COUNTYWIDE : Boy’s Life Depends on Donor Gift

John Le says wants to get well and grow up a little so he can earn enough money to go to Disneyland. But if that is to happen, the 4-year-old must find a bone marrow donor.

John has aplastic anemia, a fatal blood disease, and a bone marrow transplant could save his life, said Tim Vuong, a Children’s Hospital of Orange County spokesman. But none of the potential donors in the national bone marrow registry match John.

“If I could give up my life to save my son’s, I would,” said John’s father, Loi Le.

John, who likes playing cards, riding his bicycle and watching race-car movies, is living with his parents, sister and brother in an uncle’s home in Westminster. His father said he has been unemployed for two years because of physical disabilities.

Loi Le said John constantly feels as if “ants are crawling all over his bones.”

“It hurts me to see him in pain,” Le said. “I hope we can find a donor.”

A match is more likely to be found among the Asian community, Vuong said. Asians for Miracle Marrow Matches will sponsor a donor testing Saturday for John, who is Vietnamese American. The event will take place from 5:30 to 8:30 p.m. at La Purisima Church in Orange. Asian Americans are especially being asked to get tested.

“The goal is to get more Asians to donate bone marrow,” Vuong said. “There is a big shortage of donors in the Asian community.”

Those who are tested at Saturday’s event will be added to the national bone marrow registry.

Hospital officials said a person’s bone marrow is genetically inherited, so when no matching sibling is available, the best chance for a match lies in finding someone with the same racial or ethnic background.

La Purisima is at 11712 Hewes St. Information: (714) 898-1526.