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A city-wide bone marrow drive to help save the life of 8-month-old Sophia Lopez of Stamford will take place Saturday. It's being sponsored by DKMS Americas, a New York-based organization that recruits bone marrow donors for leukemia patients, in conjunction with local community agency Domus and Open Hearts Open Doors, based in Greewich. The drive will take place at Domus, 83 Lockwood Ave., from noon to 4 p.m.
Sophia was diagnosed in January with HLH, an extremely rare blood disease that affects only one in 1 million children annually, according to a DKMS press release.
DKMS describes itself as "the largest bone marrow donor center in the world with over 2 million registered donors." Registering as a donor is relatively simple it merely involves a cheek swab test. However, finding a donor-patient match can be difficult because tissue types must be compatible. Since Sophia is of Puerto Rican descent, finding a donor may be more difficult, according to the release. The tissue types of Latinos are more diverse, plus they comprise only 10 percent of the national registry.
Those who cannot make it to the drive are urged to register online at http://www.dkmsamericas.org. For more information, call 1-866-340-567.
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