9-Year-Old Girl Needs Life-Saving Bone Marrow Transplant
COMMERCE, Mich. (WWJ) - A 9-year-old Metro Detroit girl is battling cancer for the second time in her young life; and now only the gift of life from a stranger can help her beat it once and for all.
Stacy Balzer of Commerce described what it was like to hear the words her daughter Syndney would have to face fighting leukemia again.
"You never want to hear the words that your child has cancer for the first time, let alone a second time," Balzer told WWJ Health Reporter Sean Lee. "In September of this year we were told that she relapsed."
Sydney — who loves making crafts, playing soccer, playing piano and doing gymnastics — already endured two and a half years of chemotherapy, losing her hair twice. She has missed more than 100 days of school and spent seemingly endless days in the hospital
"It appears that the best chance for her to be cancer free is to get a bone marrow transplant
No one in Sydney's family is a match, so their only shot at finding the person who can save her life is through the National Marrow Donor Program.
There's a bone marrow drive this Saturday, Nov. 1, at Walled Lake Central High School for Sydney and others who are waiting on a stranger to give them the ultimate gift.
Registering as a bone marrow donor is as easy as filling out a form and swabbing the inside of your cheeks to collect cells for tissue typing. It only takes 10 minutes and is completely painless.
After that, you'll be placed on the National Bone Marrow Registry and may be called upon to save a life.
To register, you must be between the ages of 18-55, weigh more than 110 lbs, and in good general health.
For more details on the drive, visit this link.
