Terminally Ill Bay Area Cancer Patient Fulfills Last Wish To Meet Warriors Players
MOUNTAIN VIEW (KPIX 5) -- A Bay Area cancer patient who doctors say only has days to live was granted his last wish to meet some of the Golden State Warriors players.
Lifelong Warriors fan Ryan Manansala met players David Lee and Nemanja Medovic who came to visit him at his hospital bed Monday.
The 29-year-old Manansala was first diagnosed with leukemia two years ago, leaving him desperate for a marrow donor. The problem was that the donor needed to be Filipino like Ryan.
Of the 10 million Americans registered to donate, only 10 percent are Asian Americans, and less than one percent of those are Filipino.
"When it comes to marrow donation, just the word marrow freaks people out," Ruby Law of the Asian American Donor Program said.
Law says that there is a cultural misunderstanding of what it means to donate. "People still think you are donating a chunk of your bone, or you go through a procedure and it's really painful, but it's not true."
For most people, the procedure is as painless as giving blood.
Ryan's father Richard helped him fulfill his last wish to meet the Warriors players. "I called and talked to your dad today, and had to come by after practice," Lee told Ryan.
Richard wants to help others avoid Ryan's fate by getting more Asian-Americans to register to donate.
"If I can knock to their heart, I can open their heart and say, please," Richard said.
KPIX 5 reporter Cate Caugurian asked Ryan what he wanted others to know. Ryan, who is unable to talk and uses a whiteboard to communicate, wrote "enjoy life."
More information on becoming a bone marrow donor can found here.