Anika
Anika is a bright and vivacious 16-yr. old Indian American girl in Valencia, California and in urgent need of a matched bone marrow donor to save her life. Anika was diagnosed with aplastic anemia, a rare & severe bone marrow failure disorder in May of this year. She was admitted to the Children’s Hospital in Los Angeles for immunosuppressive treatment and remained in the hospital until October, where she underwent multiple lung and sinus surgeries from life threatening infections. Anika has fought bravely through these six months of hospitalization and still maintains her cheerfulness and positive attitude. Unfortunately, she has only marginally responded to the immunosuppressive treatment and is completely dependent on weekly blood transfusions. Anika is now fighting for her life with less than 5% of her cells remaining.
Her doctors are now recommending a Bone Marrow Transplant as the only viable option for her. According to statistics, 70 percent of people suffering from blood-related illnesses must rely on donors, often complete strangers, to save their life. Unfortunately, Anika’s Indian ethnicity makes it extremely difficult to find a matched donor since Indians are severely underrepresented in the bone marrow registry, greatly reducing their odds of finding a match to less than 10%.
Updated March 2020: Anika found a stem cell donor and has her transplant. However, please keep her story in your thoughts as we still urge all individuals, especially of Indian origin, to register as a stem cell donor.
Join.BeTheMatch.org/4Anika
Text "4Anika" to 61-474
Her doctors are now recommending a Bone Marrow Transplant as the only viable option for her. According to statistics, 70 percent of people suffering from blood-related illnesses must rely on donors, often complete strangers, to save their life. Unfortunately, Anika’s Indian ethnicity makes it extremely difficult to find a matched donor since Indians are severely underrepresented in the bone marrow registry, greatly reducing their odds of finding a match to less than 10%.
Updated March 2020: Anika found a stem cell donor and has her transplant. However, please keep her story in your thoughts as we still urge all individuals, especially of Indian origin, to register as a stem cell donor.
Join.BeTheMatch.org/4Anika
Text "4Anika" to 61-474