Register a Miracle

I know this is completely unrelated to Honda News, however this is very near and dear to the hearts of everyone I work with. This is just to bring awareness to a challenge one of my co-workers, Cameron Kent and his family are going through at this time of year. It's really something like this that puts life into perspective, and we should all take time to be reflective of what we have. Our prayers go out to the Kent family. Here is the article;

REGISTER A MIRACLE
Girl needs bone marrow match
By LAURIE MUSTARD
The best gift any human being can ever give another, at any time of year, is the gift of life.
Madison, the beautiful young lady you see here, could use some help in that department. The great news is, someone walking around out there right now -- perhaps even here in the 'Peg -- is the person carrying Madison's cure.
Talking about a matching bone marrow donor. And once that person is found and the transplant's completed, Madison has an excellent chance of moving on from her daily battle with a life-threatening chronic illness to her dream of again being a regular young lady with a long and healthy future.
It's a gift I'm sure any one of us would be thrilled to give.
Madison's mom Stacy Kent describes her daughter's dilemma:
"Madison is a 10-year-old girl, who, a year ago, was diagnosed with aplastic anemia, a life-threatening illness where her bone marrow has shut down (likely due to an attacking antibody from a virus) and she is unable to produce sufficient white cells to fight infection, platelets to clot her blood and prevent bleeding, and hemoglobin to carry oxygen to maintain organ functions.
"She has had ongoing treatment at CancerCare Manitoba and last February received an in-hospital immunosuppressant treatment for 10 days in an attempt to restart her bone marrow. Some success was found in this initially but since September she has been supported with regular blood cell transfusions every two weeks as her counts did not maintain themselves.
"Many thanks to those who regularly donate to Canadian Blood Services; many people like Madison are given a better chance because of you.
"Madison is at the point in her treatment where a bone marrow transplant would be the best chance for her recovery. Frequent, ongoing transfusions over an extended period of time add to the difficulties of her treatment and eventual hopes for a transplant. This is supportive care, rather than a solution.
"We, her parents, are not a match for her bone marrow (HLA typing) so the only other option is to look to the Unrelated Donor Registry for a suitable match.
"Unfortunately, her HLA typing is not common and it may be tough to find -- there are currently 11 million people registered internationally and none may be a match. Time is definitely a factor. Our year-long search has had no positive results.
"We are calling upon the goodwill of others that we know is abundant among the generous population of Manitoba. We realize her match may be right next door!
"If you are a healthy individual who wants to make a difference in this little girl's life (or someone else's perhaps), please go to onematch.ca or call 1-888-2donate to register as a donor.
"They will contact you to give a blood sample at a location that is convenient for you.
"If you are asked to be a donor, the procedure involves exacting a portion of marrow that the body will naturally replace within six weeks. Usually the donor misses only a day or two of work for this type of procedure.
"Please consider giving this precious gift of life. Thank you, Stacy, Madison and Cam."
Such a small effort for such a potentially huge return. I'll be registering on behalf of Madison, and I hope, at a time of year when giving is everything, many of you will do the same.
We're hoping to give Madison a little Christmas miracle, folks. Please help.

Laurie Mustard can be reached by phone at 204-632-2749 or email at laurie.mustard@sunmedia.ca

Here is the original artical from the Winnipeg SUN;
http://winnipegsun.com/News/2007/12/22/4736800-sun.html