Six-Year Old Boy in Search for Bone Marrow Donor

Cecile Docto, ABS-CBN North America News Bureau

RICHMOND, British Columbia – The family of six-year-old Filipino-Canadian Joshua Weekes is asking for help from the Filipino community.

Weekes, who has acute myeloid leukemia—a rare and aggressive form of leukemia, is in need of a bone marrow transplant.

Weekes, who just finished his second round of chemotherapy, did not find a match in his family.

It has been a challenge to locate a donor from the stem cell and bone marrow registry because of his ethnicity.

His mom, Lia, is half Filipino and British while his dad, Dagan, is half-Caribbean and Icelandic.

Friends of the family have organized a stem cell and bone marrow donor drive hoping to find the right match.

Individuals, aged 17 to 35, came to register. Firefighters from the Richmond Fire Department also showed their support for Weekes.

“We need lots of people to register. We need lots of ethnic, varied ethnic backgrounds to help him and other patients as well,” said Kathryn Barczi, Lia Weekes’ friend.

All it takes is a cheek swab to get enough sample that will be put in a database for doctors to search.

Trudi Goels of the Canadian Blood Services admits the national stem cell registry is not as diverse as it needs to be.

A very small percentage of the registry is identified as coming from the Filipino community.

Goels added the organization “Be the Match” will hold an event in Weekes’ honor in California.

“So in order for patients to be able to find their match they really need somebody who matches their ethnic heritage,” she said.

Individuals can still register by contacting the Canadian Blood Services.

(Source: ABS-CBN.com)