Outpouring of support for family of Richmond boy in search of rare bone marrow match

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RICHMOND (NEWS 1130) – The search for a bone marrow donor for a little boy in Richmond continues.

In a story NEWS 1130 brought you last week, we told you about the six-year-old battling an aggressive form of leukemia. His mixed heritage of Filipino, English, Icelandic and West Indian makes finding an appropriate match more difficult.

The number of people who have come forward and offered to help is unbelievable, says six-year-old Joshua Weekes’ mother Lia, as the desperate search to find him a match continues.

“We’ve had such an amazing outpour of people connecting with us — people contacting us locally, people contacting us in the States and further abroad — saying, ‘Hey we have heard about things. What can we do?'” she explains.

“We are just so grateful to everybody for caring and for taking the time to do something, whether it’s spreading the word about what we need or coming forward and donating blood or registering to see if they could be a match for a bone marrow transplant.”

She says the incredible response is giving the family some comfort in the midst of this nightmare. “If you have to be going through something like this, and if you have to watch your child go through something like this, my God, every bit helps.”

A bone marrow drive for Joshua is happening in Richmond at St. Joseph the Worker Parish on April 5th, from 1:30 to 7:30 p.m.

Click here to find the registry.

Canadian Blood Services reports surge in bone marrow registrations

Over the last week, there has been a spike in bone marrow registrations at Canadian Blood Services clinics and online.

“Messaging around Joshua’s story has really been very helpful in bringing more registrants to our registry overall,” says David Patterson with the agency.

He says it’s good news for anyone in need of a donation.

“[We try] to gather as many people on the registry as possible so that when patients like Joshua are in need, we already have that match for them. Our goal is to increase not only the size of our registry, but the diversity of our registry, as well.”

“And it’s also been very helpful in helping people understand the nature of the registry — that if we don’t have people registered, we just can’t help patients,” adds Patterson.

He notes the ideal match for Joshua has a diverse background, and is a male between the ages of 17 and 35.

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