Ten-year-old Elan Shademan and his family received devastating news five months ago. Elan was diagnosed with MDS, a rare severe blood disorder where his only chance for survival is a bone marrow/stem cell transplant. His family is now searching for a bone marrow match for Elan. They have been searching for four months with no luck.
To keep his disease under control, Elan has started chemotherapy so it doesn’t progress toward leukemia specifically AML.
Elan is a complicated case as he has other genetic abnormalities including GATA 2, monosomy 7, and MSH6 deficiency further enhancing the dire need for stem cells. His background is European and Iranian Ancestry. Although ethnic background and ancestry play a role in DNA matching, anyone who is 18 to 44 years old can help particularly those with Elans background. His family asks to help Elan by joining the largest bone marrow registry “Be The Match.” Testing is so easy, it just takes a cheek swab and you could save his life or the life of another child in need.
For more information, contact healthelan@gmail.com
To join the bone marrow registry
