Donor registry drives to be held in Brewster, Worthington
By Carol Schreiber
Staff Writer
Be The Match for someone in need. That someone could be someone you know and love or it could be a complete stranger. Every three minutes, someone is diagnosed with a blood cancer, and 70 percent of patients do not have a fully matched donor in their family. They depend on Be The Match to find the person that could save their life.
Be The Match (BTM) is a nonprofit organization focused on saving lives through marrow and umbilical cord blood transplantation. Their registry is the connection between patients searching for a cure and life-saving bone marrow donors.
A marrow transplant replaces a patient’s unhealthy blood-forming cells with healthy ones from a donor, and can be a cure for more than 70 different diseases, including leukemia, lymphoma and sickle cell disease, according to BTM.
Ten year old McKhia Hasty is someone in need. A bone marrow transplant is needed, as it has been determined that she has a mutated gene that will not allow her to be in remission from her recently diagnosed leukemia without a bone marrow transplant. “Without the transplant, she will never be fully free of cancer,” explained her mother, Samantha Casper. “She will continue to get it, and could cause further problems.”
McKhia began round two of chemotherapy on Monday for Acute Myeloid Leukemia (AML). McKhia has one brother, Isaac DeBates. A fifth grader, she has been attending school in Sioux Falls, staying with her mother’s aunt Sara and cousin Jaime since August. She had been a student at Round Lake-Brewster School prior to that.
“We can officially announce that there will be a local bone marrow drive in honor of McKhia,” explained rural Brewster resident Tracy Remme. A friend of McKhia’s mother, Tracy and Team Aiden have joined the fight. “When we found out about McKhia, we knew Team Aiden needed to help,” she added.
McKhia was diagnosed with AML just after Thanksgiving and has gone through her first round of intense chemotherapy treatment, which was followed by a short break. Once she completed her first round of chemotherapy, McKhia started losing her hair. “She made the decision on her own to shave her head and she was smiling and ‘dancing’ the entire time,” explained Samantha. The video has been shared in multiple countries and viewed over 6700 times on Facebook. She has now chosen a wig, which she wears to avoid questioning looks from other people.
She was able to go home and enjoy activities with her family and friends last week. “She had a blast! Sleepovers with a friend and her brother, bowling, shopping, cooking, and she visited her classmates,” Samantha explained. McKhia returned to Sanford Children’s Hospital on Friday for tests, which showed good numbers and then again on Monday for the beginning of round two.
McKhia is receiving the strongest chemotherapy round for round two, which will be followed by two more rounds. Each of her four chemotherapy rounds will last eight to ten days, with four chemo meds administered in this round, and three each in the next two rounds. As she begins round two, the opportunity is there for family, friends and even complete strangers to “Be The Match” and help this young lady.
Donor events are set for early February in Brewster and Worthington. Volunteers can join online, using McKhia’s link: http://Join.BeTheMatch.org/TeamMcKhia. Be certain to use McKhia’s link, so that she will get credit. A swab kit will be sent, which can be returned for a chance to save a life. There are age (18-44 years) and health guidelines, and donors must be willing to give to any patient that is in need. A health history form must be completed and a swab of cheek cells given.
McKhia set the goal of 25 people to register at the upcoming donor drives. “Let’s help to find her, and others like her, a donor for their chance at life,” Tracy said. “Any of us could be the person that a family is waiting for to save their loved one.”
Donor registry drives will be held at MariePix Photography, 303 Tenth Street, Brewster on Friday, February 2, from 4:00 until 7:00 p.m., and at Serenity Gifts in Worthington on Saturday, February 3, 10:00 a.m.-3:00 p.m., 1132 Oxford Street.
According to Be The Match, young, diverse donors are most urgently needed. Just because a person is registered doesn’t mean they will be a match for someone in need. Once a person is registered on BTM, they will remain listed until they reach the age of 44 or they remove themselves from the registry.
“Please consider a donation to help kids and adults with cancer and other life threatening diseases overcome their illness,” Tracy added. As one who is involved in fighting the cancer battle in her own family, Tracy understands what is happening with McKhia’s family.
Following round two of chemotherapy, McKhia will have a short break before undergoing round three. For the fourth round of chemotherapy, McKhia will be traveling to the Twin Cities, with the bone marrow transplant happening shortly after the chemo round. She will have to remain in the Twin Cities for about three months, going through chemo, recovery, transplant, and recovery from that, as well as determining if it works. “They are targeting it for March, most likely late March,” Samantha said.
There are three different styles of shirts along with decals available at Serenity Gifts, with proceeds aiding McKhia and her family with expenses.
There is also an account that has been set up at Sioux Empire Federal Credit Union, Attn.: Sara Caven, Courtesy of McKhia Hasty Benefit, P.O. Box 90240, Sioux Falls, S.D. 57109-0240.
Cards and well wishes can be sent to her at: Sanford Children’s; Attn.: McKhia Hasty; 1600 W. 22nd St.; Sioux Falls, SD 57105.
