Urgent plea for bone marrow donor for 10-year-old boy with leukemia

María Luisa, the mother of little Alejandro who was admitted last January to the Torrecárdenas Hospital and who is still waiting for a bone marrow transplant, has released a video on Social Networks in which she warns that the little boy “is runs out of time.” The mother has told the Internet community that they have not yet found anyone compatible with the child and that it is “very urgent for people to collaborate, because the more donations, the more likely it is to find someone compatible with Alejandro.”

Leukemia

Alejandro, 10 years old, was diagnosed with leukemia when he was 8 and now, the treatments that have been applied to him have stopped working. That is why he needs an urgent transplant, since it is the only thing that could give him back his childhood so that he can play with his friends and go to school again.

However, this is not an easy task, since the probability of finding a suitable bone marrow donor is reduced to one in 4,000.

Give marrow

Contrary to beliefs based on the confusion between bone and spinal marrow, donating bone marrow is completely painless and very simple requirements must be met. The donor must be between 18 and 40 years old, weigh more than 50 kilos and be completely healthy.

It should be noted that the procedure is similar to a blood donation and does not cause any type of side effect in the donor. The procedure can be performed in two ways: from bone marrow, in which marrow blood, rich in stem cells, is extracted by puncture of the postero-superior iliac crests; or through peripheral blood: an apheresis procedure that collects stem cells from the blood supply.

To register as a bone marrow donor, it is necessary to sign an informed consent and have a small blood sample extracted in order to determine the HLA typing, ‘human leukocyte antigen’, which must match that of little Alejandro.

Marrow donation and transplantation are governed by a principle of international solidarity, this means that marrow cannot be donated for a specific patient, but for any person who needs it, regardless of where they live. The registered donor can save the life of an anonymous patient at any time.

transfusion center

Anyone who wants to do their bit to help the child should go to the Torrecárdenas Hospital Transfusion Center in the morning, from 10:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. If it is impossible to go to the center during these hours, every Thursday from 4:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. a bus is parked to make donations in front of the Stella Maris school (Las Jesuitina), on Rambla Federico García Lorca.

Likewise, a bus with similar characteristics travels to different locations throughout the province throughout the week. Whoever wants to donate in this itinerant way must check the schedule of said bus at the relevant Town Hall or health center.

2024-04-12 18:53:41
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