Georgia Girl Puts Spotlight on Life-saving Bone Marrow Transplants

   

Marlie Wilson is a 6-year-old girl given a second chance at life thanks to a stranger who signed up to a bone marrow donor.  Here’s more about Marlie’s story and with how you can register to be a potential marrow donor.

Marlie who lives in Hartwell, Ga., with her family received the transplant at Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta in late January.

To learn more: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vAMW6BiSlnw

Marlie is 6 years old, a middle child between her older sister and her new baby brother. She loves to play dress up and play pretend, and loves to watch videos on YouTube. She was diagnosed with Severe Aplastic Anemia  (a blood disorder that occurs when a person’s bone marrow does not make enough healthy blood cells) in March 2014, after coming home from school with a big bruise on hip from falling on the playground. She has been on Immunosuppressive Therapy for five months and receives blood and platelets as needed.   Marlie was given a second chance at life by a stranger. Marlie received her transplant at the end of January. Delete Blood Cancer, a non-profit organization that recruits potential donors, helped organize a donor drive in Hartwell on November 18th, 2014 that registered over 250 people in honor of Marlie

She was released from the hospital earlier this week, and is in much better shape than she was immediately after receiving her transplant. It is difficult to truly gauge the recovery of a patient post-transplant until after their 100 day mark, which will come in May for Marlie.

To register as a potential bone marrow donor, visit http://www.deletebloodcancer.org

(After registering online, you will get a a swab kit to complete the registration).

Here’s some stats to consider about being a potential bone marrow donor:

Each year, 20,000 U.S. patients look to a bone marrow transplant as their only hope for survival.
– Only 30 percent of patients find a donor within their families and 14,000 per year rely on the registry to find a match.
– Minority patients have a more difficult time in finding a match as they are underrepresented on the registry.
–        Currently, there are millions of individuals around the world who have registered, but given how difficult it can be to find a match, that's not enough. The more people added to the registry, the better the chances a patient has finding a lifesaving match.