Akiim DeShay
The results came back, it was Acute Myeloid Leukemia. The Oncologist said I probably had it for 6 months and I did not have much time to live unless we started Chemotherapy right away. I was given a few choices of doctors and hospitals to receive treatment but I chose to go with her because she was referred to me by the praying doctor in the ER.
I went home for two days before treatment. I prayed that god would take care of my family while I was gone. I would be undergoing treatment in another hospital for about a month. Read more...
Ashante Sloan
"God has blessed me with the possibility to receive the marrow transplant I need to possibly cure my disease and save my life. This is truly a miracle when you take into consideration that so many African American/Black patients who need a transplant do not receive one."
Ashonte was diagnosed with severe aplastic anemia in October 2008. It was determined that she will need a Marrow transplant to survive. With no perfect match in her family or on the registry she held four marrow drives and recruited hundreds to the registry. "I am on fire about helping others who need transplants." she says. She is dedicated to continue to help add more people to the registry so she can help others. Due to the urgency of her condition, doctors went ahead with the transplant using a donor that was not a perfect match. She was able to meet her donor and is very thankful
Ajani’s Story
In Nigeria, “Ajani” means “he who wins the struggle.” In Roanoke, Virginia, it means the same thing. Ajani was diagnosed with leukemia three years ago at age two. His doctor gave him three months to life, unless he got an unrelated umbilical cord blood transplant. Fortunately, a matching cord blood unit was found, thanks to another family’s generous decision to donate their baby’s’ cord blood to a public cord blood bank.
Ajani received his transplant at Duke University Hospital, and his mother Risa has been trying to keep up with him ever since. This is no small task, since Ajani’s motor is always running. He enjoys riding his bike, playing ball of any kind, listening to music and competing with his cousins in just about anything
“No question, the transplant saved my son’s life,” says Risa. “I thought I appreciated him before, but after all he’s gone through, I appreciate him even more now.” In Edo, one of the languages of Nigeria, Ajani means “he who wins the struggle.” Ajani is living up to his name in every way.
Saved By A Transplant
Jennifer Jones Austin
Jennifer Jones Austin of Brooklyn, NY at age 41 was diagnosed with leukemia. This wife and mother of two children, ages 12 and 7, was in immediate need of a bone marrow transplant. Within months Jennifer, her husband, family & loved ones joined forces with The Icla Da Silva Foundation and set up bone marrow drives in several states recruiting more than 13,000 mostly minority donors in that time period.
Jennifer received a partially matched transplant from umbilical cord blood of February 24th, 2010 and was able to return to her work in the community a year later. Together their efforts have produced several matches for other patients.
Seun Adebiyi
just graduated from Yale Law School and is trying to make history as the first Nigerian delegate to compete in the Winter Olympics when he found out he had leukemia.
Seun is very driven and through bone marrow drives, media appearances he was able to bring a lot of awareness to this issue. He even held the first ever bone marrow drive in Nigeria.
Seun received a transplant from partially matched umbilical cord blood on February 11th, 2010 and is now continuing to accomplish his dreams, yes all of them.
Samuel G Roberson Jr
Sam was diagnosed with Leukemia at age 8. Then he was told his best chances for survival were to have a bone marrow transplant however he did not have a match. Chemotherapy eventually put him into remission, but he relapsed two years later and still had no match on the registry.
Sam say's " I never found a match but by God’s grace, an experimental transplant from myself worked and I am still here today. The pure miracle of my survival has inspired me to dedicate a large part of my life to making sure patients don’t have to go through the same thing as my family and I." In 2009 he launched The Make Me A Match Project to help save the lives of patients suffering from Leukemia and other blood related diseases.
Lamar Adams
In 2003 seventeen year old Bronx, New York native Lamar went for a physical so he could play high school basketball but was diagnosed with chronic myelogenous leukemia(CML). Through the "Be The Match" resistry he would find an anonymous match more than 300 miles away in Rochester, New York where city councilman Adam Mcfadden lived. Because of program rules the two had to wait at least a year to meet and they have been close ever since.
Cornelius Jones
In 1986 Cornelius was diagnosed with severe aplastic anemia while still in high school. He received a bone marrow transplant from his brother and is now cured
Cornelius lives in Houston TX and has appeared in the media regarding survivorship and issues with living post bone marrow transplant.
Nathan Mumford
Nathan Mumford from Cleveland Heights, Ohio is a two time cancer survivor, battling Hodgkin's disease in 1988, at the age of eight; and again in 2004, at twenty four, with Acute Myelogenous Leukemia.
He founded the Karen E. Mumford Cancer Foundation in 2007 as a way to help sufferers of cancer, and their loved ones. The Foundation was named in honor of his mother who succumbed to breast cancer in 2005, Karen E. Mumford.
An avid guest speaker at various hospitals, churches, symposiums, conference's, college classes, fundraisers, etc, in his own words Nathan's sole objective is to, "Give back to the cancer community in any way I can; and to allow cancer patients and their loved ones to benefit from my experiences. I attempt to share my battle with cancer, my mother's loss to breast cancer, and the recent passing of my brother, Daymon, as vehicles to inspire others." Read his full story here
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Mildred Bethea
Mildred has an amazing story. Between 2002 and 2007 she was diagnosed and survived three different cancers. Breast cancer, acute myeloid leukemia, and myelodysplastic syndrome (pre- leukemia). After making it through all of that it was recommended that she have a bone marrow transplant. After not being able to find a match in the bone marrow registry she received transplanted stem cells from the donated umbilical cord blood of a newborn baby. She has since been an advocate to spread awareness and has added more than one thousand people to the registry.
Warren Davis
Warren Davis, a husband and father of two young children was diagnosed with the rarest form of non-Hodgkin's lymphoma in 2004. Because he had no donor match among siblings or on the registry, he was treated with an autogolous stem cell transplant which is a process that used his own bone marrow stem cells.
Four years later the lymphoma returned. This time by miracle a matching white donor half way around the world in Egypt was found. She donated her stem cells to him in August 2008 and he miraculously returned to work within months. Warren has been recognized for his support for organizations and individuals who support this cause.
Warren Davis with family and his donor Kathleen Sheridan
