Bleeding Love - A Haemophilia Story
Donation protected
Our son Lachlan had a pretty tough year last year. He was dealing with a still unresolved gastrointestinal bleed and his doctors can't figure out what is causing it. For a normal kid, it probably wouldn't be as big a problem, but Lachie has haemophilia.
Haemophilia is a blood clotting disorder where there is not enough clotting factor VIII (Haemophilia A) or IX (Haemophilia B) in the blood. A clotting factor is a protein in the blood that helps control bleeding.
Haemophilia is not a very well known disorder and funding for research in Australia is very difficult. We want to try and change that. The best way to do this is to raise more awareness of haemophilia and the impact it can have.
This is where you come in. We are making a documentary to raise awareness of haemophilia and other rare bleeding disorders, as well as to tell Lachie's story. We are being very ambitious with this project and want it to be of high enough quality and substance to reach a global audience. We have set a big goal as would like the funds to cover making the documentary, appointments for Lachie and some travel expenses. We would also like to make a donation to the Haemophilia Foundation of Australia.
Lachie has 9% Factor VIII which classifies him as having mild haemophilia A. Mild haemophiliacs should not have the severity of bleeding that Lachie has had. This puts him in a bit of a grey area treatment wise. Doctors are unsure of the best way to treat him and have been unable to find a cause for his bleeding. Spontaneous bleeding does occur in haemophiliacs, but generally only in severe or moderate cases. With Lachie’s factor level he shouldn’t be experiencing spontaneous bleeding, especially at this severity. We would love to be able to discover the cause of this bleeding, but we are determined to do something to improve his future.
We have begun production on the documentary and were lucky enough to visit some amazing organisations across North America and film some fantastic interviews. We have produced a trailer with some footage from this trip which you can view at the top of this page.
We will now be moving ahead with all the Australian based interviews, speaking with the Haemophilia Foundation of Australia, Lachie's haematologist and some families who are also dealing with life with a bleeding disorder.
Then the long and detailed process of editing the documentary begins. Post production costs are very expensive so at this stage we will be handling all the editing ourselves. Hopefully with enough funds we could have it edited by a production company.
The ultimate goal in making this film is to raise awareness of haemophilia in Australia. Increased awareness should lead to more funding, and more funding should lead to more research.
Hopefully one day there might be a cure for bleeding disorders, but until that time, we want to do our part to get to a point where treatment options are cheaper, more available, and easier to administer. We dream of a future where there is a cure for bleeding disorders, not just for Lachie but for everyone affected.
No donation is too small, and we truly and deeply appreciate any and all support given.
Thank you and lots of love from Lachie, Shannon and Charles (his mum and dad).
Haemophilia is a blood clotting disorder where there is not enough clotting factor VIII (Haemophilia A) or IX (Haemophilia B) in the blood. A clotting factor is a protein in the blood that helps control bleeding.
Haemophilia is not a very well known disorder and funding for research in Australia is very difficult. We want to try and change that. The best way to do this is to raise more awareness of haemophilia and the impact it can have.
This is where you come in. We are making a documentary to raise awareness of haemophilia and other rare bleeding disorders, as well as to tell Lachie's story. We are being very ambitious with this project and want it to be of high enough quality and substance to reach a global audience. We have set a big goal as would like the funds to cover making the documentary, appointments for Lachie and some travel expenses. We would also like to make a donation to the Haemophilia Foundation of Australia.
Lachie has 9% Factor VIII which classifies him as having mild haemophilia A. Mild haemophiliacs should not have the severity of bleeding that Lachie has had. This puts him in a bit of a grey area treatment wise. Doctors are unsure of the best way to treat him and have been unable to find a cause for his bleeding. Spontaneous bleeding does occur in haemophiliacs, but generally only in severe or moderate cases. With Lachie’s factor level he shouldn’t be experiencing spontaneous bleeding, especially at this severity. We would love to be able to discover the cause of this bleeding, but we are determined to do something to improve his future.
We have begun production on the documentary and were lucky enough to visit some amazing organisations across North America and film some fantastic interviews. We have produced a trailer with some footage from this trip which you can view at the top of this page.
We will now be moving ahead with all the Australian based interviews, speaking with the Haemophilia Foundation of Australia, Lachie's haematologist and some families who are also dealing with life with a bleeding disorder.
Then the long and detailed process of editing the documentary begins. Post production costs are very expensive so at this stage we will be handling all the editing ourselves. Hopefully with enough funds we could have it edited by a production company.
The ultimate goal in making this film is to raise awareness of haemophilia in Australia. Increased awareness should lead to more funding, and more funding should lead to more research.
Hopefully one day there might be a cure for bleeding disorders, but until that time, we want to do our part to get to a point where treatment options are cheaper, more available, and easier to administer. We dream of a future where there is a cure for bleeding disorders, not just for Lachie but for everyone affected.
No donation is too small, and we truly and deeply appreciate any and all support given.
Thank you and lots of love from Lachie, Shannon and Charles (his mum and dad).
Organizer
Charles Eddy
Organizer
Nudgee QLD
