Cole is th son of a close family friend. My mom worked with his grandma for many years and are still friends today. I've known his Aunt since I was little, going to the babysitter together to graduating high school together. Cole's mom is two years younger but still a part of my family.
About a month after Cole's 1st birthday the family found out he has SCIDs (Severe Combined Immunodeficiency). Basically he has no immune system and is very sick. The plan right now is for Cole to have a bone marrow transplant to replace his lack of immune system with the donor's. Luckily Cole has found a donor and is about to start a very rough journey.
This is a joruney my mom and I are very familiar with. My dad had two bone marrow transplants. The first one they used his own stem cells and the second time he had an unrelated donor. The dangerous part of the transplant is what happens before. The doctors need to kill all the good stuff in your system so that it doesn't attack the foreign cells from the donor. After the transplant there are still hurdles to overcome but it can be done. Aside from my dad, two of my mom's former coworkers have had to go through this process. It's not fun for anyone involved.
Cole and my dad were lucky that there are strangers out there willing to donate bone marrow to help save the life of someone they don't know. I've been on the national bone marrow registry for close to 5 years. It's really easy to get on the registry. They send you a kit and you swab the inside of your mouth. After you send it in, you just wait for the call. If I were to ever get the call I would do it in a nanosecond. I can never repay the man that gave my dad a few more years.
That's how you can help. Join the donor registry to help save a life.
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