Weekend stem cell donor drive aims to save four-year-old’s life
Posted Jun 2, 2013 08:45:23 AM.
This article is more than 5 years old.
OTTAWA – A stem cell drive being held this Sunday aims to find the donor a four-year-old girl needs to save her life.
Jayden Roll was diagnosed with myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS), a rare blood disorder that can progress to leukemia.
“This is truly the most terrifying thing a parent can ever hear about their child,” said Kelly Goodman, Jayden’s mother.
Blood transfusions help Jayden keep going, but she needs a stem cell transplant in the next few weeks, in order to survive.
Stem cell donor drives have been held in Vancouver, Toronto and Montreal, where Jayden and her family live. So far, no donor has been found for Jayden. This weekend, the search comes to Ottawa.
The Ottawa stem cell registration drive will be held at the Soloway JCC, at 21 Nadolny Sachs Private. It will register potential donors to the One Match Stem Cell and Marrow Network.
“If you can’t make it out to the drive on Sunday, it’s easy to call One Match or e-mail them,” said Warren Roll. “They’ll send you a kit right to your house, so you can swab in your house and send it back to them.”
The test – at home or at Sunday’s drive – only involves swabbing the inside of your cheek.
“There (will be) a lot of great people there to answer questions, and it’s fast,” Roll said. “You can probably get in and out of there in a few minutes.”
Patients like Jayden are most likely to find a donor in a young man aged 17-35. Stem cells from young men provide fewer chances of complications post-transplant.
Stem cell donor drive location:
Soloway Jewish Community Centre
21 Nadolny Sachs Private, Ottawa
Sunday, 2-6 p.m.
For an at-home swab kit:
One Match Stem Cell and Marrow Network
