Wichita boy joining event to register bone marrow donors

A 10-year-old Wichita boy is joining three women who are traveling around the country to raise awareness about bone marrow transplants and to register potential donors.

Desmond McDonald, who has been diagnosed with a life-threatening disease, is joining the women at an event in Wichita from 4 to 8 p.m. Wednesday at Risen Savior Lutheran Church, 6770 E. 34th Street.

The three women – Taylor Shorten, 24, and sisters Alex Kimura, 24, and Sam Kimura, 22 – started an organization called Sharing America’s Marrow to register potential bone marrow donors. They are traveling to all 50 states this year in hopes of garnering 50,000 registrants.

Both Desmond and Sam Kimura were diagnosed with a rare and potentially fatal bone marrow disease called severe aplastic anemia, which causes low levels of red blood cells, white blood cells and platelets.

“Essentially, your blood becomes water, so it’s important to treat it as quickly as possible,” Shorten said.

Desmond was diagnosed with the disease when he was 5 and received a transplant from his now-7-year-old sister. But he relapsed in October and needs a second transplant from his sister within the next 30 days, according to his mother.

“It’s important to have these drives to get more people on the registry,” said Jennifer McDonald, Desmond’s mother. “Especially individuals that are minorities.”

Desmond is biracial. McDonald said it’s important for minorities to join because of a shortage of those donors on the registry.

Bone marrow transplants are based on a person’s DNA, so it’s hard to find a match. About 20,000 people per year are diagnosed with a life-threatening illness that could be treated with a transplant, according to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

“If you are called to be a donor, that probably means you’re the one person in the world that can donate to that person, because it’s that rare,” Alex Kimura said. “There might be a patient right now that is waiting for you to register.”

She said that bone marrow donation is simple and painless thanks to medical advancements. Anyone age 18 to 55 can join the registry by filling out a brief consent form and submitting a cheek swab.

Kansas is the 28th state on the nationwide tour, and the women have gathered almost 10,000 registrants since they started Jan. 20.

To register as a potential bone marrow donor, visit http://www.sharingamericasmarrow.com.

This story was originally published July 14, 2015 at 10:07 PM with the headline "Wichita boy joining event to register bone marrow donors."