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Sarah Jasmins from the Cindy Klbaden Recreation Complex. Members of the Filipino community are invited to pbad a stamp to verify that they correspond to the stem cells they need medically.
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Sarah Jasmins likens the pairing of a donor with a patient needing stem cells as a bit like finding a needle in a haystack.
This weekend, members of the Filipino community in Winnipeg rallied alongside a 16-year-old high school student looking for this needle: a donor with matching stem cells that could save the girl's life.
Roshlind Mance, originally from Winnipeg and now living in Alberta, suddenly fell ill while attending a summer school in Calgary in July. Since then, he has been diagnosed with both aplastic anemia and paroxysmal nocturnal hemoglobinuria (PNH), two potentially life-threatening diseases requiring twice-weekly blood transfusions, which expose him to a high risk of infection and uncontrolled bleeding.
"We are looking for people of all ethnic origins," says Jasmins, Canadian Blood Services' stem cell territory for Western Canada. "Our database is made up of 69% white people, which is great if it's a Caucasian patient; it is therefore easier to find a match. When trying to find the match, it's like trying to find a needle in a haystack. If you are a white patient, your haystack is much bigger than our other ethnic groups. "
According to Jasmins, more than 400,000 people are currently registered in their database, but less than 1% are of Filipino origin.
"One thing, when people are trying to find a match, is usually that they find it in their own ethnic group," she said.
More than 220 potential donors signed up for the Canadian Blood Services database on Saturday at Cindy Klbaden Recreation Center and organizers were hoping to surpbad that number on Sunday. A similar fundraiser in Edmonton this past weekend brought together 153 new registrants.
"(Saturday) a steady influx of people arrived and most of them came out of the goodness of their hearts after hearing the story and wanted to help," said Joel Sanjuan, Roshlind's uncle and organizer of the event. . "
But time is running out to find a match.
"We are running against time here," Sanjuan said. "My niece really needs it and the Alberta transplant team has already started looking, but it's a tedious process. That takes time. As we add more registrants, it means we have more people in the pool who, hopefully, will suit my niece and other people. "
The purpose of the weekend's campaign was to find Filipino donors between the ages of 17 and 35 for Roshlind, but no healthy donors were refused. In addition, anyone under the age of 60 who still wishes to donate can contact Canadian Blood Services or register online at www.blood.ca.
"In fact, you are more likely to win the lottery than to match another patient," said Jasmins. "That's why, if Canadian Blood Services had already phoned you before your sixtieth birthday, we hoped people would say yes when we asked them what they always wanted to give. This is very important and it is probably the only match for this patient. "
Twitter: @SunGlenDawkins
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