A BRAVE York schoolboy who has had 157 blood transfusions to cope with a rare illness is today celebrating his 10th birthday.

William Rhodes needed to be resuscitated at birth and was found to have Diamond Blackfan Anaemia, a rare disorder which meant his red blood cell count was so low that he could have died at any point.

Since then William has had to travel to hospital in Leeds every three weeks for life saving blood transfusions.

Today (Wednesday, December 12) the football-mad youngster is celebrating turning 10 with his friends and family who say it is a landmark birthday. He will be having a birthday meal and is hoping to get the new Liverpool kit.

Caroline, William's mum, said: "It’s a big milestone considering all he’s been through and at birth we were so close to losing him...and now he’s turning 10.

"William copes as well as he can with his illness and we are so proud of him every day, we often don't understand how he manages day-to-day but he does, he just keeps going, his strength amazes us."

The Poppleton Road Primary School pupil is one of only 2,000 people around the world with Diamond Blackfan Anaemia, which means his bone marrow doesn't make any red blood cells.

To cope with this he has regular transfusions but they are not without complications - William's body does not pick up and recycle iron, which recently caused dangerous iron deposits on his heart.

There may also come a time he can no longer have blood transfusions. "No one really knows the future," Caroline said. "He has his transfusions and that's how he survives but there could be a time when his body rejects those transfusions and we can't carry on down that route. The next option is a bone marrow transplant unless other options become available.

"We don't know what's round the corner and we don't know how long William's life span will be.

"We just live for the day."

But despite the challenges he faces, William's parents have spoken of their immense pride at their son's positivity and strength.

His dad Ben said: "He is very normal, he gets on with things and you would never think he had anything wrong with him in himself. He just accepts it."

It had been hoped that William would be able to have a bone marrow transplant if his parents could have a tissue-matched brother or sister. Medics could then use the stem cells from the baby's umbilical cord to allow the transplant.

However, attempts at genetic screening and IVF have not been successful and despite Caroline and Ben welcoming a daughter Grace, now four, she was not a match for William.

"He has a very close bond with his little sister, they love each other so much," Caroline said.

She added: "When William was born at the time we didn't really know what was going to happen. We didn't know if we would bring him home from hospital. Each year at another birthday we think of how far he has come. He has exceeded all expectations."