McCandless toddler with rare gene mutation cleared to come home after treatment

ST LOUIS — Clementine Blackham has finally been cleared to come home.

RELATED COVERAGE >>> Pittsburgh infant with rare gene mutation finds life saving bone marrow donor

Tanner Neely-Blackham posted on Facebook that after 493 days, Clementine, now two years old, and her family are coming home to Pittsburgh from the Ronald McDonald House in St. Louis.

As of last year, Clementine was just one of 10 people who have been diagnosed with a mutation to the TLR8 gene. She received a life-saving bone marrow transplant from an anonymous donor in Europe in 2023, which her mother said went well.

>> Bone marrow donor found for McCandless baby battling rare condition after months of searching

Channel 11 has been closely following Clementine’s story since she was a baby. In April 2023, then 8-month-old Clementine was still looking for a bone marrow transplant. She had already had two major surgeries and 16 blood transfusions.

The community has been rallying around Clementine since her diagnosis. Hundreds turned out in her hometown of McCandless to help find a bone marrow transplant last May.

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