2-year-old with aplastic anemia needs bone marrow as Colorado parents search urgently for donors
Once they started noticing the bruises and bloody nose that just wouldn't stop, parents Khloe and Adam Haney knew something was wrong with little 2-year-old Karina.
"That's when the fatigue started, which is little like pencil marking bruises all over your body, which is all that internal bleeding because she didn't have any platelets," Khloe said. "So, by the time we went to the Children's Hospital in the Springs, they ended up transferring us up to Aurora."
Karina, one of the sweetest children on Earth, was diagnosed with aplastic anemia, which is, bone marrow failure. It's an autoimmune disorder that causes her own body to attack itself.
The little girl has now been getting treated once or twice a week with blood and platelet transfusions to keep her healthy and alive, but she either needs immunosuppressive therapy which could put her in remission, but the disease could come back.
The other option is a bone marrow transplant, which she has the possibility to not survive, but would theoretically eradicate the disease from her body.
Another issue they faced was who would donate if they went that route. No one in the family is a match and finding donors that match Karina's genetic makeup is tougher because of her ethnic heritage.
"I'm Native American. I'm a mix of everything, but Native American and Hispanic and a few other things as well," Khloe said. "The doctor, he was concerned if she'd have any matches at all because of that."
Medical specialists have known for a long time the pool of donors drops if the patient is not Caucasian.
Be The Match reports, white patients have a 79% likelihood of finding a match, Native Americans have a 60% chance, Hispanics have a 48% chance, Asians or Pacific Islanders have a 47% chance, while Black or African Americans only have a 29% chance.
It's part of why the Haney's are pushing so hard to help get other minorities to sign up to become a donor and help save lives just like Karina's.
"We were worried it was going to be tough to find a match, but we've been really fortunate that we did have some matches thanks to these people joining the registry," she said.
They're still waiting to hear if any of those matches will actually accept the call to donate, should they choose to go that route.
"You couldn't ask for anything more, you know? I mean, that's the best gift that someone could give," Khloe said. "Just joining the registry and saving lives for, you know? If not for Karina for other people on the registry as well."
If you ended up feeling inspired by this story and want to take the two minutes that are required to sign up to save a life, click here!