Greenwich Village Girl Prepares For Bone Marrow Transplant
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A six-year-old girl from Greenwich Village in desperate need of a bone marrow transplant may have a donor, but a perfect match is not guaranteed yet. NY1's Ruschell Boone filed the following report.Jasmina Anema and her mother Theodora are tickled with joy and with good reason. After months of looking for a bone marrow donor, tests show two people are near-perfect matches for the six-year-old leukemia patient.
"It feels great," says Jasmina Anema.
Doctors cleared the way for Jasmina Anema to have a life-saving transplant, even though a bone marrow biopsy on the bubbly six-year-old at the NYU Langone Medical Center shows some of her cancer cells have grown after a week without chemotherapy.
She will be moved to Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center early next week to begin prepping for the procedure.
"I never had a doubt that we would find a match. This is sooner than expected. So we and our friends, my friends, my family - we are all extremely happy and thankful," said Theodora Anema.
Since being hospitalized in January, there has been a huge outpour of support for Jasmina Anema from celebrities like Rihanna and Kelly Rowland.
When NY1 attended a drive for Jasmina Anema at her school in March, thousands of New Yorkers turned out to help.
"Thank you for everybody helping me," said Jasmina Anema, who is scheduled to receive her transplant at the end of the month.
Her mother is still hoping to find the perfect donor before then.
Since neither donor is a perfect match, doctors say there is a chance Jasmina's body might reject the marrow causing complications.
"There are 10 markers and someone needs to match the 10 markers, but if you match nine out of 10 it's close but not perfect. So it's worth a try," said Theodora Anema.
A bone marrow drive will be held for Jasmina on Monday at Touro College in Harlem, and her mother says it will also help to promote the need for more marrow donors.
"Only three people out of 10 will receive a donor, so what happens to the other seven?" said Theodora Anema. "So that's a very sad and serious issue, so we need a lot more donors not just for her, but for a lot of other people, especially minorities."
For more information on upcoming drives for Jasmina, visit www.oneforjasmina.com.