A sad update to the story of four-year-old Hannah Day.
Hannah lives in Victoria and has been in and out of hospital for most of her short life. She has leukemia and and it’s the second time in as many years that she is battling cancer.
The Day family went public just after Christmas to try and find a stem-cell donor for Hannah. Thousands of people from around the province rallied behind the Day family who finally got their wish, a perfect match.
But doctors say the little girl has gone through too much radiation to successfully have a stem-cell transplant, leaving her family with the choice of palliative care or a risky transplant next month that has a 60 per cent chance of success.
Canada currently has 326,000 people who are already registered as potential stem-cell donors. Hannah is one of 750 Canadians who are currently awaiting a stem-cell transplant.
To become a stem-cell donor you can fill out a questionnaire online if you’re between the ages of 17 and 35, and you’ll be sent a kit in the mail. A swab of your cheeks will reveal if you’re a suitable donor. Once identified as a match, donors will undergo one of two procedures. Stem cells can be harvested from bone marrow under general anesthetic, or through peripheral blood stem cell donation.
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