Roxanne Archer, 22, from Anfield, died in February 2011 from a rare blood disorder, three months after she first noticed mysterious bruises on her body. Her younger sister, Natalie Archer, has spoken of the devastating loss and is now fundraising for a stem cell charity in her memory.
Natalie, 33, from Fazakerley, described Roxanne as an “outgoing and kind” person who became a “mother figure” after the death of their mum, Mary, when the siblings were both young. The family believed Roxanne was perfectly healthy until November 2010.
Speaking to the ECHO, Natalie recalled: “I remember one day she got out of the bath. She had a towel wrapped around her. Me and my dad were in the hallway opposite to each other. She was in the middle, we were walking towards her, and she was covered in these bruises.”
Emergency letter and diagnosis
Roxanne told Natalie and their dad Paul she had been to the doctors about the bruises and was waiting to hear back. She had also noticed her hair wasn’t growing back as fast as usual. Shortly afterwards, the family received an emergency letter.
Natalie said: “We got this emergency letter through the door to say, ‘whatever you’re doing, please stop and go to the hospital.’ Roxanne wasn’t in at the time, so I rang her. I could never forget it, it was heartbreaking. I started fretting but I had to be strong for her. She was in her boyfriend’s house at the time and he took her straight to hospital.”
Roxanne was diagnosed with aplastic anaemia, a rare blood disorder where bone marrow fails to produce enough new blood cells. Common symptoms include fatigue, frequent bleeding or bruising, and hair thinning or shedding.
Transplant hope and tragic loss
Despite the diagnosis, there were reasons for hope. Natalie said: “The doctors gave us hope. They said, 'it’s curable, there’s treatment out there but one of the main things she needs is a bone marrow transplant and the first person we go to are siblings.' I’m her only sister, so I got tested and it was a match.”
Roxanne was able to go home on Christmas Day 2010 to spend time with her family, who thought the transplant operation would save her life. But she died on February 14 2011, two days after contracting an infection in her bowel.
Natalie explained: “If it was anybody else who’d got an infection in their bowel, they could operate on it. But because Roxanne's bone marrow wasn't functioning, and she didn't have any platelets to stop her from bleeding there was just nothing they could do for her.”
Fundraising for Anthony Nolan
More than 15 years on, Natalie is still devastated. She said: “She was amazing. The life and soul of the party. She loved going out and socialising with her friends. She was a typical big sister, very bossy to me. But she was kind. We lost our mum when we were very young, so she was like the mother figure to me. She was lovely. I miss her everyday.”
To keep Roxanne's memory alive, Natalie is taking on the Great North Run this Sunday to raise money for Anthony Nolan, a UK stem cell transplant charity. Its stem cell register matches potential donors to patients in need of transplants. The organisation carries out cell and gene therapy research to increase transplant success and supports patients through their transplant journeys.
Natalie said: “I'm doing the run for the Anthony Nolan charity because if I wasn't a match with Roxanne, we would have had to go down the stem cell transplant route, which Anthony Nolan help and support. The stats today say only one in four people who need a stem cell transplant will have a match within their own family. This is my first half marathon, so I'm nervous, but as long as I finish, I'll be happy. Anthony Nolan emailed me last year to say, ‘would you be interested?’ It was close to Roxanne's birthday, and I thought, ‘oh, this is a little sign (to) do something out of your comfort zone and push yourself.' It's also in September, which is Roxanne's birthday month. I want to do it in memory of her, to keep her memory alive. We say, you die twice, once on the day you die and the day people stop talking about you, so I never want to stop talking about her.”
