In just one month, 10,000 people have registered as candidate stem cell donors in the hope of finding a match for 3-year-old Rachèle (photo above). The little girl from West Flanders suffers from an extremely rare disease and a stem cell transplant can save her life. Rachèle’s mother has repeated her call for people to register as donors because the more people that the register, the greater the chance that a matching donor can be found.
10,000 people already registered as candidate stem cell donors to help save 3-year-old Rachèle
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Rachèle suffers from aplastic anemia, the medical term for bone marrow failure. As a result of this there are too few blood cells in her blood. What causes this very rare disease is unclear, but a stem cell transplant can save the little girl.
A month ago Rachèle's mother launched a call through various media to encourage people to donate stem cells. "My daughter is now completely dependent on blood transfusions. Only a stem cell donor can save her life. I call on everyone to register," Rachèle’s mother Evie Landuyt told the VRT.
Rachèle’s mother’s calls have had an effect. The Red Cross says that around 10,000 people have already applied to become stem cell donors. Joachim Deman of the Flanders Red Cross told VRT News that "Normally we receive a few hundred registrations per month. It is now a case of all hands on deck. We will process everything as quickly as possible, but that will take a while. So don't panic if you don't hear from us quickly. We are working flat out."
Despite the massive response Mr Deman says that we shouldn't set our hopes too high: "The chance of a match is small, we have to be realistic about that. Outside the family, there is a 1 in 50,000 chance, but the more people apply, the greater the chance there being a match."
Those that register won’t just be helping Rachèle. Their stem cells could be used to help treat any patient anywhere in the world.
Rachèle's mother is grateful for the massive response to her appeal: "It is fantastic that all the work by our supporters, but also by Flemish celebrities and companies, has translated into so many registrations", Evie Landuyt said on Friday morning.
"But we are still looking for a needle in a haystack. There are three suitable donors in the database worldwide, but they cannot donate, usually for medical reasons. 3 out of 41 million candidates”.
"It is fantastic that there is so much response, but new registrations are still needed. So keep registering", Rachèle's mother said.
Those wishing to register to become a stem cell donor can do so by clicking on this link.