Mar 30, 2009 6:12 am US/Eastern
Bone Marrow Drive Held For NYC Girl With Leukemia
NEW YORK (CBS) ―
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Jasmina Anema, 6, has a rare form of leukemia and is in desperate search for a bone marrow transplant.
CBS
New Yorkers are coming together to help a little Brooklyn girl battling leukemia.
Doctors say the clock is ticking in a race to find a bone marrow match for Jasmina Anema.
Most of the people didn't know Jasmina, but they went to a bone marrow drive in Harlem because they're touched by the six-year-old's story.
Jessie Frias has a young daughter about the same age as Jasmina.
"If anything should happen to her, I hope that someone is willing to take ten minutes to volunteer to do something for her," Frias says.
"I decided to bring my daughter to show her how to contribute back to society in a small way," registered donor Adrian Stone says.
They are small gestures – just a quick swab inside the cheek – that mean so much to Jasmina's mother, Thea.
"It's heart-warming," Thea says. "I really want to thank people for all the support we received. It's really great."
Jasmina was diagnosed with a rare and aggressive form of leukemia back in January.
"She's really, really, really, really sick," Jasmina's best friend, Isabelle Huurman, says.
Time is of the essence for little Jasmina.
The odds of finding a perfect bone marrow donor are about one-in-a-million. For Jasmina, it's even more difficult to find a match because she's African American – and since she's adopted, her mother isn't a match.
"I just went to a different hospital that said the glass is three-quarters empty," Thea says. "Another doctor tells me it's half-full. I still would like to believe the glass is half-full."
Organizers say that, out of the seven million registered bone marrow donors, only eight percent are African American. That's just 550,000 people – so the hope is that Sunday's drive will help other people as well.
"We hope to get a great turnout to help Jasmina, and other patients like Jasmina," Katharina Harf, of DKMS America, says.
"I have to stay positive for her," Thea says. "She's such a happy character. I don't want to get her spirits down."
Thea hopes to stay strong for her daughter whose strength, she hopes, will pull her through these tough times.
(© MMIX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
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