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If you ask people about their earliest memories, most will recall holidays and family parties. But for Arthur, many of his earliest memories include going with his parents to regular hospital visits and staying overnight for blood transfusions. These treatments have been a frequent part of his life since birth because he has beta-thalassemia major: a rare genetic disorder that reduces his body’s ability to produce enough healthy red blood cells.
When reaching adolescence, most teenagers want more freedom, independence and control in their lives. For Arthur, it was the opposite, as he discovered that his lifespan would only last up to adulthood. After becoming an adult, Arthur was waiting for his death. It was at the eleventh hour, at the age of twenty-one, when Arthur was introduced to a miracle treatment, but only after the damage of iron overload from all the blood transfusion was done to his body.
Grateful to be given a chance to survive for a few more years, Arthur decided to do something with his life; to get married, buy a house and also to have children, knowing he had no prospect of any future for himself.
At the age of sixty, Arthur and his wife Helen celebrated their thirty-five-year marriage anniversary.
Iron Boy is a heart-breaking, gutsy and honest story about Arthur’s fight back from the darkness, and of his will to survive and prosper against all odds. To date, he has had 8600 injections, 700 blood transfusions and 2200 blood packs. In September 2016, Arthur was awarded an Order of Australia Medal (OAM) on the Queens’ Honour list as a result of over two decades as the CEO for a disability organisation, supporting disadvantaged people.
