Member Center

The Main Stream

Bone marrow drive gives family hope for daughter

Posted: Jun 3, 2012 4:17 PM
Updated: Jun 3, 2012 10:44 PM


Bookmark and Share
Rating:

0.0 (0 votes)

TUCSON - A bone marrow drive could help save the life of a Tucson teen battling a rare blood disorder.

19-year-old Delia Gonzalez is battling aplastic anemia. A bone marrow transplant is her last hope to survive.

Her inspirational story has reached many people.

In just one hour, about 50 people registered with the National Marrow Donor Program at Reid Park Sunday to hopefully be a match and others registered at Most Holy Trinity Church.

With the swab of a cheek and a little paperwork, hundreds of people joined a registry that could help find Delia Gonzalez a bone marrow match.

"Everything that you can do to help somebody else to help save their life is a good thing," said Laura Gatlin who joined the registry.

Even 13-year-old Crystal and her 16-year-old brother Sean Gillette joined in on the efforts.

"I tell people how to swab their cheeks and give cell samples, so that they can determine whether they're a match," said Crystal.

Crystal and her brother wanted to join the registry, but the National Marrow Donor Program Registry guidelines require donors to be at least 18 years old, so instead, they volunteered at the drive.

"I just wanted to help out," said Crystal's brother Sean.

This drive was organized to help find a donor for Delia who suffers from a rare blood disorder.

"She's at the end of the line. Without the bone marrow, she won't survive," said Miguel Gonzalez, Delia's dad.

According to the National Marrow Donor Program, patients are most likely to match someone of their own race within the registry, and only four percent of those registered are of mixed race like Delia.

Several people of Delia's ethnicity came to the drive in hopes of being a match.

Even a 17-year-old who unfortunately because of his age, was not allowed to join the registry.

He's looking into getting privately tested because he's so passionate about helping Delia.

Those who registered at the drive will be placed in the national registry to see if they are a match for anyone from anywhere in the nation who may need a bone marrow transplant.

For more information on how you can become a donor, head to this website:

http://join.marrow.org/delia

Comments

KVOA.com is Social!

Most Popular

DON'T MISS THESE!

Thumbnail
FC TUCSON

Check out the latest events FC Tucson has scheduled.

Thumbnail
SEASON 4 HOPE

Help those in need this holiday season

Thumbnail
SUBMIT NEWS TIP

Click here to submit a news tip to us!

Thumbnail
NEWS 4 TUCSON ON FACEBOOK

Become a Facebook Fan!

Thumbnail
@KVOA ON TWITTER

Follow us!

Thumbnail
BECOME A MEMBER

Sign up on KVOA.com for newsletters, exclusive deals, and more!

Thumbnail
KVOA.COM LATEST CONTESTS

Win! Win! Win!

Thumbnail
KVOA MOBILE APPS

Get news, weather and more on your smartphone and tablet!

Thumbnail
TEXT ALERTS

Get texts for news, traffic, deals and more!

Thumbnail
KRISTI'S KIDS

Stories and videos with Kristi's Kids

Thumbnail
NEWS 4 TUCSON @ 4

What's happening on News 4 @ 4

Thumbnail
ADVERTISE WITH KVOA.COM

Let us help grow your business

Thumbnail
COMMUNITY CALENDAR

What's happening?

Thumbnail
KVOA PROGRAM SCHEDULE

What's on KVOA and when!

Thumbnail
CONTACT US

Contact info for our department heads

Thumbnail
FCC ONLINE PUBLIC FILE

FCC Public File of Records, Reports, and More

Thumbnail
MEET US!

KVOA's on air personalities!

Thumbnail
KVOA CAREERS

Work at News 4 Tucson

Thumbnail
RSS FEEDS

Complete feeds of all KVOA.com stories