Jasmina Anema - A Miracle and a Savior
6yr old Jasmina of New York City was diagnosed with a rare and aggressive form of leukemia on January 20th, 2009. Her doctors immediately determined her only chance for survival is a bone marrow transplant but she did not have a match. Because of great media attention, more than 10,000 African Americans joined the marrow registry through DKMSamericas.org and two matches were found in a matter of months. She had her transplant on June 11th and is currently in recovery. oneforjasmina.com
UPDATE: Sad news, Jasmina passed away on January 27th, 2010. There is more to this story and I promise to elaborate soon.
Parish Grimes (1963 ~ 2006)
Parish was diagnosed with multiple myeloma in 2004. She needed a transplant but was told she had no match. Determined to fight, she organized three bone marrow drives and registered at least 250 African Americans.
Sadly a match was never found for her and she passed away at age 42 March 27, 2006 leaving behind her husband and three young children. Read more about Parish Grimes...
Also in memory of...
Terrell Wilson, 21 from Orlando, FL sadley passed away on Christmas Morning 2009 from Leukemia. This big Orlando Majic fan received calls, visits, and gifts from Orlando Majic current and former players on his birthday while in the hospital in July. Unfortunately, he was not able to receive a life saving transplant because he did not have a match.
Eunique M. Darby, 15, of Syracuse NY passed away November 2008. After battling Leukemia for years she finally found a match but her transplant was canceled due to complications with the donor. Another match was found 4 months later but sadly she passed away a few months after transplant.
Edward Swain, 19 died two days before Eunique in the same hospital. Both teens had been waiting for a match and together helped raise awareness in the Syracuse area for the need to register African Americans. Edward also finally found a match, but sadly it was too late for him as well. Although a transplant is never a guaranteed cure, the longer a patient is on the waiting list the lower the chance of survival once they receive the transplant. That's why its imperative to have matches for everyone before hand
LaMonica Molette was 21yrs old and diagnosed with Leukemia (AML). Her Brother was a match but was murdered the day before her transplant. She had no match on the marrow registry and passed away. Her dying wish was to keep drives going for other people to possibly find matches that her church has held annually since. Watch her touching video here...
Pastor Royal preacher of a Dallas, Texas Baptist Church fought a long hard battle against Leukemia. I (Akiim DeShay) first became involved with the movement at a drive for Pastor Royal. A year later he was still searching for a donor. There was another drive scheduled in his name, but unfortunately he passed away days before the drive and after two years of searching for a match.
Passed Away and Will be Missed
De'Sha Woods
De’Sha Woods, a teenager from Cottage Hills, Illinois was diagnosed with Acute Myeloid Leukemia. De’Sha enjoyed a brief time in remission after rounds of Chemotherapy and radiation but the cancer returned. The first potential donor was a perfect match. However, when it was time to give the bone marrow, the donor declined.
As heart-breaking as it was to find a match then lose it, De’Sha was blessed with a second donor. She eventually received a transplant from a second match who was not perfect, but considered a close match (five out of six). Perfectly matched transplants have a higher prognosis and fewer expected complications.
De’Sha was active in encouraging people to register for the registry. In 2008 she was one of the faces for the National Marrow Donor Registry as a national poster model for the NMDP ‘Be the One’ and the ‘Thanks Mom!’ campaigns. Sadly due to a complication from her transplant called GVHD she passed away on Labor Day 2009.
Karen Drayden from Dallas Texas, was a 25 year veteran of the United States Postal Service. In early 2009 she was diagnosed with Acute Myeloid Leukemia. After initial chemotherapy and a relapse, it was determined that her best chances of survival would be a bone marrow transplant. With out a matching sibling it was an extra hard blow to find out there was no one on the registry who matched her tissue type.
I met Karen in the hospital where she asked me to speak to her co-workers and that although she knew her chances of survival where not good, she wanted to make a difference for others who are facing the same grim prognosis.
After several more months of chemotherapy and a couple of relapses a partial umbilical cord match was found for her. However it was determined that the levels of leukemia cells were too high for her to undergo the procedure. Karen says “I am truly sick and this illness is winning but I am trying all I can so that doctors can learn more and help the next resistant patient and it saddens me” (Jan 15, 2010). Those would be her last words to me, she passed away two weeks later on January 28th. I told her I would tell her story.
How Being Black Can Save A Life
African American Marrow Connection
MENU
Shannon Taverez
In 2009 Eleven yr old Shannon was a budding Broadway star. Four nights a week she played young Nala in The Lion King production. In 2010 she was in a hospital fighting Leukemia.
A bone marrow transplant was her best chance of survival but she did not have a match. After months of searching she was finally given an alternative umbilical cord transplant. Sadly Shannon passed away on November 1st, 2010. Her search for a match brought massive attention to this issue and led to 10,000 new minority donors, unfortunately none where a match for her. A new organization now exists in her name:
Dexter Randolph
Dexter was a 44-year old native Houstonian. This father of three and grandfather of two, was a diagnosed with Lymphoma. He had been a patient at M. D. Anderson, who was in immediate need of a marrow stem cell transplant. Dexter did not have a fully compatible sibling match, therefore his best chance of finding a match was through the Be The Match Registry. Sadly Dexter passed away in November, 2010 the same month as Shannon.
Marvin Swimpson Sr.
Marvin Swimpson Sr. was an accomplished musician, songwriter, producer, arranger, and a middle school band director for 34 years. He was diagnosed with Non-Hodgkin's Lymphoma in 2009. In February 2010 the disease went into remission, but unfortunately he relapsed that June and was told he needed a Stem Cell Transplant for the best possible chance of being cured. He and his daughter, gospel singer Charmaine Swimpson spread the word about the need for African American donors to help save his life and others like him through the gospel circuit. A match was not found and sadly Marvin passed away Nov. 14, 2010. The family suggests memorial donations in Marvin's name be made to bethematch.org and The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society.
Marvin Swimpson Sr. and daughter Charmaine Swimpson
Melanie Davis Hood,
Melanie, a Virginia mother of a three-year-old girl named Trist has pre-leukemia and will need a bone marrow transplant but does not have a match. If she does not find a full match by the end of the September, she will receive a bone marrow transplant with a half-match donor. See her story here...
Sadly Melanie lost her battle to Leukemia on Sept 26th 2011
Shakobe Peters,
13 years-old Shakobe from New Orleans, LA suffered from a very rare disease called Hemophagocytic lymphohistiocytosis shutting off his ability to produce red blood cells and platelets. He received frequent blood and platelet transfusions and was in need of a bone marrow transplant but did not have a match.
Shakobe spent several months fighting this disease in a New Orleans hospital until he passed away on October 22, 2011
Joseph Grimsley. On August 29, 2006, this thirty-five year old father of three was diagnosed with an aggressive blood and marrow disease known as Acute Myelogenous Leukemia (AML). Doctors told Joseph that without a bone marrow transplant he would not live another year. Family and friends began a ” fight for life” campaign in an effort to find a donor match for Joseph.
A match was never found and on August 19, 2007, Joseph lost his battle with cancer. Even though a donor match was not found for him, Joseph asked them to continue the mission after he was gone to raise awareness, educate and encourage minorities to join the Marrow Registry. They started the Faith Hope And Determination, Inc, a non-profit organization, was formed on August 1, 2008, in memory of Joseph.
