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Bone Marrow Donor Sought for Chinese-Canadian Legal Assistant

By Lynne DeVenny

Krisy Lam is fighting for her life.

Kristina "Krisy" Lam is a 28-year old legal assistant of Asian descent, who was diagnosed with acute myeloid leukemia in 2009. After undergoing chemotherapy, Lam was in remission for most of 2010, but has since relapsed. She desperately needs a bone marrow transplant, but has no matches in her extended family, which is now publicly seeking a bone marrow match.

Lam's best chance of survival is finding a matching donor from within her own ethnic group, but Asians make up only a small percent of registered donors. Patti Lam, Kristina's mother, told the Toronto Sun, "We're hoping for a miracle. Her best chance of finding a donor is someone of Chinese descent." 



You can learn more about stem cell donation and register online at OneMatch, www.onematch.ca, a part of Canadian Blood Services. Anyone in general good health, between the ages of 17 and 50, and covered under Ontario's government health plan can register. Testing involves a painless swab on the inside of your cheek, and if you register online, OneMatch will mail a swab kit to you.

In addition to the online registry, One Match and the Other Half - Chinese Stem Cell Initiative are organizing a national Chinese stem cell drive to help Lam and 22 other Chinese-Canadians trying to find bone marrow donor matches on Saturday, March 26. For locations in Calgary, Toronto, and Vancouver, click here.

For more information and to show your support, see Krisy Lam's Facebook page, Fight 4 Krisy.

OneMatch's slogan is "You can be the one match to save a life."  If you or anyone you know could be a match, I hope you'll register and spread the word.

Sources: Toronto Sun;  DancePooh.ca

Full post as published by Practical Paralegalism on March 20, 2011 (boomark / email).