While she should be studying for exams, a teenage girl is preparing to battle a bone marrow transplant, intense chemotherapy and radiation treatments.
Coldstream’s Averi Morey is currently at BC Children’s Hospital, fighting aplastic anemia (bone marrow failure).
The now 15-year-old was first diagnosed in December 2020, when she was so sick that she couldn’t even stand up without almost passing out. From Vernon Jubilee Hospital, within hours the young girl was flown to Children’s Hospital in Vancouver.
She underwent treatment and after about a year of immune suppression it was determined she had gone into remission. But bad news followed in October 2023 when the family found out she had relapsed.
“We knew something was wrong because in gym class she was getting very severe bruising from normal things like a volleyball hitting her wrist,” said mom Jerica Armitage. “Since October she has been on different combinations of different medications to try and keep her as healthy as possible while waiting for a transplant.”
Averi is back at Children’s Hospital, has started treatment and is now scheduled for bone marrow transplant on March 21.
“This is scary. Period. And it’s the second time she’s had to fight for her life,” said Jerica.
The transplant, along with chemotherapy and radiation, requires Averi to stay in Vancouver for four to six months.
“The sheer gravity of Averi’s medical needs is compounded by the absence from work for both sets of parents (Tyler and Jerica Armitage, along with Matthew and Brittany Morey),” said Jamie Carpenter. “The strain of managing multiple trips, extended stays at the Ronald McDonald House, and caring for their other children is a monumental task, both emotionally and financially.”
To help alleviate the financial burden, Carpenter has created a GoFundMe fundraiser at https://gofund.me/699a82d0.
“Your donation, no matter the size, will serve as a beacon of hope for Averi and her family, providing them with the crucial support needed to navigate this challenging chapter in their lives. Your kindness and generosity will allow them to focus on what matters most: Averi’s well-being and her journey towards recovery.”
Even once she is home, Averi will need around the clock care.
“There are so many moving parts to this process,” said Jerica. “Special cleaning protocols for our house, medications that cost thousands of dollars a month and burn through our extended health, multiple trips back and forth once we’re home, the need for me to be off work until she’s better - it’s so much.”
The transplant is her last option, as Jerica explains there are no other treatments.
“This has to work because we can’t exist in a world that Averi isn’t a part of.”
Averi is a student at Vernon Secondary (although she has been out of school battling the illness) and she has three younger siblings.
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