Mammoth ride for little Aaron

ON SUNDAY nine Capetonians lead by Rebettzin Wineberg, will take on the Cape Town Cycle Tour and the distance of 109km to raise funds for five-year-old Aaron Lipschitz from Sea Point, the first child in South Africa to be diagnosed with Interleukin-12 Receptor Defect.

The rare genetic condition that affects the immune system means that Aaron is unable to tolerate any food without becoming very ill.

The only nutrition he has been able to cope with is a hypoallergenic formula called Similac Alimentum. He is fed via a MIC-KEY feeding port in his stomach.

As there was no cure for Aaron’s condition, the only way for him to overcome infections and survive, was to have a bone marrow transplant.

A campaign was created on crowdfunding platform BackaBuddy, and more than R1629017.18 was raised to help cover medical expenses, with contributions from more than 978 donors.

At three years old, Aaron underwent chemotherapy to destroy his current defective immune system before it was replaced with the donor’s bone marrow.

When the transplant had no significant change, his medical team decided to do a genome sequencing to determine the root of the problem. They discovered a rare genetic variant known as Fox P3, the gene responsible for the regulation of a person’s immune system.

“Aaron still has a very long and challenging journey ahead. Whenever we feel that we are getting close to the summit of this mountain, the mountain seems to become higher,” his mother Taryn Lipschitz said.

Wineberg, meanwhile, was excited to take on the Cape Town Cycle Tour for the second time.

“I met Aaron when he was in the ICU just after his bone marrow transplant. I have witnessed the miracle that is Aaron,” she said.

Support Aaron’s treatment visit: https://www.backabuddy.co.za/riding-for-aaron