No family should have to see their child suffer through illness then sadly pass away, but unfortunately, this was the reality for the local Tripp family.
Yarrawonga local Matt Tripp and his wife Yasmina (Yas) began the Bella Tripp Foundation in August 2023 in loving memory of their beautiful daughter Isabella ‘Bella’ Claire Tripp after she sadly passed away in April 2022 aged 14 from a respiratory complication resulting from a bone marrow transplant following a lengthy battle with leukaemia.
During Bella’s final days, she was battling irreversible damage that had occurred to her lungs. Her ability to simply breathe was a struggle even with oxygen support.
“Bella was my best friend who was such a personality. She was extremely funny, loved to dance and sing and she was a real mother hen,” Bella’s mum and Chair of the Bella Tripp Foundation Yas said.
“She was a strong little girl but at the same time shy and sensitive. She was so determined yet extremely stubborn and always very capable in everything she did.
“She just loved life.
“Overall she never let having Down Syndrome hold her back.
“She was the bravest and strongest person I know. Not once during her treatments that she had to endure did she ever complain.
“She was such an inspiration and it was such a privilege to be her mum.”
Now the Bella Tripp Foundation, which works towards BELLA T (BEtter Lungs and Life After Transplant) aims to achieve early detection of, and treatment solutions for, respiratory complications arising from bone marrow transplants in children.
The Bella Tripp Foundation supports targeted research that aims to: improve the understanding of causes of lung complications, discover better diagnostic tests that identify lung complications more promptly and in a less invasive manner, and identify better treatments.
Dr Shivanthan Shanthikumar, who was one of Bella’s doctors now has a relationship with the family and is working to help the foundation by providing information on the problem with respiratory complications of bone marrow transplants.
“We have been very fortunate that the foundation has provided our research team with support for our work in this area,” Dr Shanthikumar said.
“During university I did a rotation in paediatrics and loved working with children, so that’s why I decided to specialise in paediatrics.
“Then as I was finishing my training in respiratory medicine I was involved in the care of a few children who unfortunately died due to respiratory complications of bone marrow transplant. And I just couldn’t fathom the cruelty of someone being cured of cancer but dying of a complication of the treatment and, that as a medical team, we didn’t have a solution.
“So I decided to try and work in that area to improve the care we deliver.
“It has been known for a while that respiratory complications occur after bone marrow transplant. But what we noticed, was that it seems to be an increasing problem.
“At the Royal Children’s Hospital we recently found that half of all children who have a bone marrow transplant have a respiratory complications.
“Children who have a respiratory complication are five times more likely to die than children who do not.
“Some of the problems we face with respiratory complications are we tend to only diagnose them very late, once irreversible damage has occurred to the lungs.
“Also the diagnostic tests we have a relatively crude and invasive. In addition, the treatments we currently use aren’t that effective and come with lots of side effects.
“Bone Marrow Transplant is always the last resort and that is what makes the complications so sad. Children have often had a long road of treatments before they get to Bone Marrow Transplant and they only go to transplant if they all fail.
“My hope is that by raising awareness and funding for research we will be able to improve the way we manage this problem.
“Specifically, that will be developing tests that diagnose the complications early, and better treatments that cure the problem.
“If we can do that, not only will we help children in Australia, but around the world.”
Yas said that the foundation is currently in the process of finalising the legal requirements for the funds raised to be donated to researchers with the funding raised empowering the foundation to commence the first phase of their work.
“This involves blood samples where Dr Shiv and his team will examine 117 blood samples collected from children just before their transplant procedures,” Yas said.
“The focus here is on deciphering the inflammatory profiles within these samples, with the aim of predicting future outcomes for young patients.
“Also lung tissue samples where the team will investigate samples from children both before transplant and at five intervals over the first year post-transplant. With over 100 samples already collected and more to come in the following year, the team will analyse which immune cells in the lung could be causing lung damage, as well as cytokine profiles.
“However, our journey does not end here. We are eager to delve into even greater depths of understanding.
“What I hope to get out of the foundation is being able to get funding to a stage where we can diagnose early, find an effective treatment and eventually be able to help the families directly whose child is affected by lung disease associated with the bone marrow transplant.
“It is an area that people don't have a big understanding and even the medical profession still don’t fully understand.
“It is a big thing to ask from our community but even a little help may get us one step closer to trying to help another child and family not go through what Bella went through and I think we need to give these kids that go through transplant, a better chance by trying to find a better solution to a problem that is on the rise.
“We have raised $400,000 so far which is amazing given we are a 100 percent non-profit organisation that has effectively just started.”
With Bella’s dad Matt being the owner of the Melbourne Storm, the powerhouse NRL club have strong connections to the foundation and take part in events to raise awareness and funds where they can.
Last weekend several players including Grant Anderson and Young Tonumaipea travelled to Yarrawonga with Storm major sponsor Lotus Living representatives to take part in a charity golf day.
“The golf day is one of many small events that helps support the foundation. We’re so grateful that Lotus Living has thrown their support behind the foundation,” Yas said.
“In terms of local support we’re really hoping to run a black tie event early next year.
“Everyone is welcome and we hope to see lots of locals attend. The Melbourne ball was amazing and we’d love to do something similar in our hometown.
“The Storm have been amazing support. They have allocated an annual home game each year to help drive awareness and they were instrumental in supporting the Gala launch earlier this year.
“We’re really lucky to have such incredible people in the Storm family helping the foundation.”