ANAHEIM : Latinos Needed as Marrow Donors

For four years, Richard Leyba has battled leukemia. His little body has endured the torture of chemotherapy and an experimental bone marrow transplant using his own marrow.

While those procedures have produced several periods of remission for the 9-year-old Placentia resident, his family has always pinned its hopes for a permanent cure on a bone marrow transplant using healthy marrow from a donor.

To increase the pool of Latino donors, where a match for Richard’s bone marrow is most likely to come from, Kaiser Permanente Hospital-Orange County will hold a free blood screening clinic from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. today.

According to Annette Shaffer, Richard’s tutor and a family friend, there are few Latinos registered with national donor organizations. Because no donor was found in Richard’s family, this may be his last chance to be matched up with a potential donor.

The donor “has to be Hispanic to get that close, genetic match,” Shaffer said, and that is difficult because the pool of Latino donors is small.

Richard’s situation is not unique. Unfortunately, Shaffer said, there are many young Latino leukemia patients who are candidates for transplants, but who do not match up with potential donors.

“Even if no match for Richard is found, there is the chance that some other young life might be saved,” she said, discussing the possibility that one of the potential donors would match up with someone else. “This is such a small thing, yet it can mean so much.”

Shaffer has worked with Richard since his condition was diagnosed when he was a kindergartner at Glenview Elementary School. It was her idea to broaden the search to the entire community after a pediatric social worker at the hospital began asking hospital employees to be screened as potential donors.

While the emphasis at today’s clinic is on finding Latino donors, anyone who is interested in being a donor is encouraged to attend the clinic, Shaffer said. The process lasts about 15 minutes and involves filling out a short questionnaire and having a small amount of blood drawn.

The clinic will be held at the patio at the front entrance to the hospital, 441 N. Lakeview Ave.