WESTMINSTER : Asian Bone Marrow Donors Sought for Boy, 4

A Los Angeles-based organization Monday sought prospective Asian donors for a 4-year-old Westminster boy who needs a bone marrow transplant to survive.

None of John Adam Le’s family members are compatible donors for the transplant, which the child needs to overcome aplastic anemia, a rare and fatal blood disease, said Jennifer Sugimoto of Asians for Miracle Marrow Matches.

The National Marrow Donor Program has more than 1.2 million volunteer donors in its registry, but only 54,000 are of Asian descent and it is easiest to find a compatible donor within a patient’s ethnic group, Sugimoto said.

She said the boy’s doctor, Joel Weinthal of Children’s Hospital of Orange County, told her that without a transplant, John only has a 50% chance of living more than another six months. The boy’s parents said their son began to exhibit symptoms such as inactivity, constant tiredness and easy bruising in February. He was pale and had bruises all over his body.

Asians for Miracle Marrow Matches will test prospective donors from 5 to 8:30 p.m. Saturday at La Purisima Church, 11712 Hewes Ave. in Orange, Sugimoto said. Potential donors must be 18 to 55 years old.