Bone Marrow Drive to Feature Celebrities
Anissa Ayala, the leukemia survivor who gained national prominence when her parents had another daughter to provide bone marrow for a transplant, will be among those attending a drive to find marrow donors Saturday at Cafe Bellissimo in Thousand Oaks.
The event, Share Life Day, is sponsored by Children for Tomorrow and runs from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Brandon Douglas, who plays Dr. Andrew Cook on “Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman,” and Bryant Jones, Lil’ Nate of “The Young and the Restless,” will be among the celebrities on hand, said Lynette Chandler, regional coordinator of the National Marrow Donor Program.
An inspiring participant will be Ayala, 23, who in her late teens was in a losing battle against leukemia and in desperate need of a bone marrow donor.
“Her family had searched for two years for a donor, and they could not find one,” Chandler said. Finally, her mother and father had a child to save their daughter.
Ayala has been free of leukemia for five years “and that’s considered cured,” Chandler said.
“That’s what we’re trying to do with all of these people,” she said.
Cafe Bellissimo is at 105 Brazil St. For more information, call 987-6935.
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