MacEwan University students join bone marrow donor list for 12-year-old in need of transplant

MacEwanUniversity students are stepping up to help a 12-year-old girl find a bone marrow donor.

Lisa Pasichnyk watchedas 267 students registered with the Canadian Blood Services donor list Tuesday, hoping one of them may be a match for her daughter, Alex.

Students between the ages of 17 and 35 filled out forms and swabbed the inside of their mouths to be added to the country's stem cell and bone marrow donor list.

Alex wasn'tatMacEwanUniversity on Tuesday. She was at one of her regular blood transfusion appointments.

"I'm overwhelmed. I didn't expect this much turnout," said Pasichnyk.

• 12-year-old St. Albert girl needs urgent bone marrow transplant

Alex has been in need of a bone marrow transplant for three months. She has a rare blood disease called aplastic anemia, meaningher body doesn't produce enough blood cells.

Since June, she's been going to the Stollery Children's Hospital twice a week for blood transfusions.

The stress of finding a match for Alex has weighed heavily on the family, but Pasichnyk has been proactive in finding potential donors.

In St. Albert, where the family lives, a recent bone marrow drive saw 326 people register for the donor list in three hours.

"She doesn't want to be in the news or on camera. And I just say, 'If it's not to save your life, it's to save somebody's life.' It's pretty important," said Pasichnyk.

"It's almost like a pay-it-forward. I'm sure other families have been down this road and have done campaigns. This is what we can do."

1,000 Canadians looking for a match

Canadian Blood Services is hosting 12 more donor drives over the next week.

"So far we've already had four events for Alex and they've all done just phenomenally the turnout has been just fantastic," said Robyn Henwood, territory manager with Canadian Blood Services.

"At any given time, we have about 1,000 Canadians looking for a match. Based on our international database, we will find a match for 50 per cent of them."

While Hassan Awanwas studyingin the university's Robbins Health Learning Centre on Tuesday, he was handed a pamphlet with information about Alex's need for a donor. He thought about his sister and how he'd want people to help save her life if she was ill.

So, he registered to become a donor.

"You can feel good about yourself. That step you took ...actually helped her out," Awan said.

Pasichnyk hopes to find a match before Alex meets with transplant physicians in early January.

Anyoneinterestedin seeingif they are a match can register and fill out a health questionnaire online atwww.onematch.ca.

Travis.mcewan@cbc.ca

@Travismcewancbc