On January 6, 2010, little Sophia Lopez of the Bronx was diagnosed with HLH, a rare blood disease. Sophia has already endured an unsuccessful round of chemotherapy, and now at just 6 months old, her only hope for survival is a bone marrow transplant from a donor. Her parents were devastated to learn that neither of her two brothers could be her lifesaving match, and now they must depend on a perfect stranger to save their daughter’s life. Finding an ideal bone marrow donor will be challenging; Sophia is of Puerto Rican descent, but Latinos make up just 10% of the national registry and are very genetically diverse.

A registration drive was held today in Pelham Bay, sponsored by DKMS America, an international bone marrow donor center that operates bone marrow drives all over the United States.

Read more from the Post here.

…the testing for a match is simple and painless. A cotton swab is rubbed in the mouth of the donor, and then checked against a national data base that includes all of those looking for a bone marrow transplant. If there is not a match for Sophia, the bone marrow drive will still be a success because a match may be found for another patient in need.

Please consider becoming a bone marrow donor. More information from DKMS can be found here.

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