President's Page
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Hope For Kai Kai Anderson, a sweet blond German-American boy with a shy smile, celebrated his 5th birthday this week. Instead of wishing for new toys, Kai's biggest present would be a matching bone marrow donor. Kai was diagnosed with a rare form of leukemia. He has already been treated with a cocktail of seven chemotherapy drugs, but for the acute, high-risk form of leukemia he has, chemo is rarely enough. His best hope lies in a bone marrow transplant. Everyone can help. If you want to, please visit his website Hope for Kai. The next Bone Marrow Donor Drive is on May 17 at the Prospect Park YMCA. Already the story of the cute boy of German-American decent, who lives with his parents and his brother in Lower Manhattan , has touched many New Yorkers. Hundreds of people turned out in his Tribeca neighborhood to see if their bone marrow matches what Kai needs - among those who registered to be a donor were comedian Jon Stewart and Ed Burns, actor and husband of Supermodel Christy Turlington, whose son attends the same school. Every year more than 10,000 patients are in need of a bone marrow donation. Many of them suffer from Leukemia, and their cells are destroyed to such a degree that they will die if they don´t receive a transplantation - as in Kai's case. After successful surgery, the chances of recovery are good. But the prospects of finding an adequate donor are slim: only 30 % of all contracted persons find a donor within their own families, the rest depend on external help. Kai´s younger brother, Toren, has already been tested negative for a possible match. Now the Anderson 's are hoping that more people will register to help their child. The German-American is an especially needed group. Please help. Several "Hope For Kai Bone Marrow Donor Drive" events are organized through May in New York and New Jersey.Generally, every person in good health, aged 18 to 55, can register and sign-up online. The DKMS (Deutsche Knochenmarkspenderdatei) provides the largest database with more than 11 million persons willing to be bone marrow donors. Another option is to attend one of the Marrow Donor Drives, which periodically take place all over the United States. If you live or work in Manhattan, registration at the DKMA-office is another way. A visit only takes 10 minutes. Getting tested for compatibility is simple: dab a swab on the inside of your cheek and register with the national bone-marrow registry. If the marrow is a match, donors are asked to undergo one of two minor, non-invasive outpatient procedures that extract some of your healthy stem cells to replace a patient's unhealthy cells. There is no commitment involved: if you are a potential donor match, and the organization contacts you, the decision is still yours. Despite the painful therapies Kai is still smiling and cuddling with his mum and dad. As if the family wasn't going through enough, the past years have been difficult and full of other dramatic diagnoses: his mother, Birgit Anderson, underwent emergency heart surgery in 2007; months later, her husband David was diagnosed with an incurable form of lymphoma. Right now, their focus is on their son, and their hope is to find a donor as quickly as possible. www.GermanyinNYC.org Contact Us The German-American Community Project, Inc. 871 U.N. Plaza New York, NY 10017 Tel.: 212.610.9816 Fax: 212.610.9704 e-mail: info@germanyinnyc.org Editor Katja Guttmann © 2005 The German-American Community Project. All rights reserved. This email was sent to: john@gawhs.org This email was sent by: The German-American Community Project 871 U.N. Plaza New York, NY 10017 USA ============================== |
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