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“Bella Brave” — nine-year old TikTok star Bella Thomson of Swift Current — is recovering from a life-saving bowel transplant.
Bella’s mother, Kyla Thomson, said they have waited nearly three years for this surgery.
“We got the call and I chatted with her nurse on the phone who said, ‘We’re going to get you to SickKids (Hospital in Toronto) today. We have organs available for Bella.’ As soon as that was done, we planned our air ambulance flight to Toronto from Saskatchewan,” Kyla said.
Kyla, Bella and Lyle Thomson before lift-off to SickKids Hospital in Toronto (BellaBravesMustardSeed/Facebook)
“We’re doing really good. Given the circumstances, it’s still really surreal. But we are just so thankful that everything is really going smooth for her. She’s recovering wonderfully and her doctors are really happy.”
Bella has spent well over 1,000 days in numerous hospital rooms. Getting this surgery means she’s one step closer to fewer hospital visits.
“She was in full bowel failure and SVC (Superior vena cava) syndrome, so without this surgery she would not survive. And so looking at that kind of future was grim before we got the call. So it’s a heavy weight that was lifted,” Kyla said.
Bella’s condition
Bella was born with three rare conditions: A bowel disease called Hirschsprung disease; severe combined immunodeficiency (SCID), which effects the immune system; and dwarfism.
“All three are very rare, but to have them all together is also unheard of,” Kyla said.
“Her bowel disease is long-segment Hirschsprung. It affected her whole bowel and caused much more problems and surgeries and it’s essentially the reason why she needed a bowel transplant.”
In 2020, Bella was put on the transplant list due to having a lack of vascular access. The diseases she was born with meant she always required central lines and IV lines. They have scarred up almost all over her vascular access and vessels.
“She was in the end-stage SVC syndrome (which is a lack of vascular access). That was also part of the need for a bowel transplant in order for her to survive,” Kyla said.
Staff at SickKids took a great interest in Bella’s case when they realized she had no vascular access left and her bowels were failing.
From there, the Thomsons played a waiting game.
“After 2 1/2 years we did receive a call, but unfortunately that didn’t work out. Thankfully, this month Bella received the call and everything was successful,” Kyla said.
Long road ahead
According to Kyla, doctors at SickKids have done quite a few bowel transplants. She and her husband Lyle were told the surgery could take 15 to 20 hours.
Bella and her parents before surgery. (BellaBravesMustardSeed/Facebook)
“But Bella’s went exceptionally well and quickly and she was done in eight hours, which was remarkable,” Kyla said. “Not only that, she came out of surgery without a breathing tube and breathing room air and talking. That is also very unheard of and they were really surprised and happy with that.”
“It was really just better than we had expected for sure.”
With Bella’s condition being so rare, it caused worry for complications.
“This bowel transplant for her is really remarkable because she had a bone marrow transplant when she was one,” Kyla said. “We had a lot of discussion about that possibly causing some worry because we’re essentially asking three immune systems to work together: Her donor from the bone marrow transplant, her mixed chimerism (a mix of host and donor cells), which still have some of her cells, and then now the bowel donor immune system.”
“There’s a 30 per cent chance for her for this to be successful and we’re just happy that she’s doing so well with all those odds against her. It’s been a miracle. I’m really proud of her.”
Bella has a long road to recovery before she can head home to Swift Current and her little brother Waylon, who is staying with his grandparents. A bowel transplant can take anywhere from three months to a full year to recover.
Bella’s little brother Waylon cheers on his sister from home. (BellaBravesMustardSeed/Facebook)
“So we’ll be far from home for a while yet. There’s many different stages of recovery. There’s lots of things that we still need to watch for and just hoping and praying that Bella goes through every stage smoothly means that we could still be here until Christmas. It’s just kind of up in the air, week by week, day by day,” Kyla said.
TikTok Success
Kyla shares her daughter’s story on social media to educate others about her condition.
The pair recently celebrated a major milestone: 6.2 million followers.
@kylact 🎉 Cheers to six million followers and counting! Your unwavering support keeps us brave and inspired every day. Let’s keep conquering the digital realm together with laughter and positivity! 🚀 #SixMillionStrong #staybrave #bellabrave #fyp #foryoupage 🩷 inspo: @Barbie Movie @Dua Lipa @barbie @Margot Robbie💗 @Maddy #barbie #dualipa #watchme watchmedance. #imprsvparty #imprsvdecor #marqueelights #marqueelightsdiy #marqueenumbers #marqueeletters #balloonmosaic #balloonmarquee @imprsvofficial @imprsv_party
Kyla said it’s very surreal and they get recognized often.
She said people tell her Bella’s story helped or inspired them. Others are in awe of Bella’s bravery.
“For me that matters the most because from Day 1 in hospital, I wanted her to be able to live a future where people understand her and not always question her,” Kyla said. “So I took to social media to say, ‘Hey world, this is what some kids go through. This is how hard it can be for them.'”
“I want to share her bravery so that you can understand her journey with her and not bombard her with questions and misunderstandings.”
Since Bella was born, Kyla wanted to keep her loved ones informed on Bella’s health. She started with a Facebook page. She found writing to be therapeutic so she started a blog where she could make longer posts.
“It was my only way of communicating with everybody back home and helping keep in touch and help them understand what she was doing and how she was doing,” she said.
The blog morphed into an Instagram page, YouTube channel and now a TikTok which has seen the most success, garnering them a world-wide audience. They even caught the eyes of pop star Halsey in 2021.
“I’m so thankful that we have reached so many people because I’m not only helping her and her future in this world, but other kiddos that have a lot of medical challenges that the majority of people just don’t understand,” said Thomson.
Thomson and her husband came up with the nickname Bella Brave, saying it was the best way to describe her.
“She is brave through so much in such a young part of her life that most adults don’t even see in their entire life. And the way that she has always come out of every surgery, every trying time in the hospital, every stay with such resilience and happiness and just confidence that it seemed to fit her personality perfectly given her story,” Kyla said.
She’s grateful for everyone who has supported them over the years.
“It’s keeping us going and giving us strength and energy and we appreciate it,” Kyla said. “It’s been a long nine years, almost 10 years of helping our brave girl fight through every medical challenge, and a long three years waiting for this life saving surgery for her.”
“We really want everyone to know we are grateful and thankful for their help.”
More information about Bella’s social media accounts and to follow her recovery can be found here.