Inside the council chambers at City Hall Thursday, people were stopping by to take swabs of their DNA.
The few-minutes procedure was not only a donor stem cell drive for the general public, but it was an effort that hits close to home for one Burnaby Mountie.
RCMP Const. Aaron Jahed’s 10-year-old nephew Aaryan was diagnosed with a rare blood condition last year, in which the boy’s body is not producing blood cells, leaving him vulnerable to infection and uncontrolled bleeding.
There is no cure, but a stem cell transplant could save Aaryan’s life. Unfortunately, there are no stem cell matches within his family. His rare genetic heritage, he has an Afghan father and Vietnamese mother, also makes finding a donor difficult.
Until Aaryan finds a matching donor, he’ll have to undergo frequent blood transfusions.
Jahed said the entire family was devastated by the diagnosis and they have been doing whatever they can to get the word out about the blood condition and the need for donors to find a match.
“We’re not giving up,” told the NOW.
The family teamed up with OneMatch, a program run by the Canadian Blood Services, to organize the stem cell drive at city hall and one day find a match.
Trudi Goels, with Canadian Blood Services, said the drive was targeting anyone between the ages of 17 to 35 to join the national stem cell registry.
The potential donors are asked to provide a DNA sample through a cheek swab that goes into a database where physicians from around the world can access it on behalf of patients who need a stem cell transplant.
Goels said she was hoping to get about 50 people to join the registry at the Burnaby event.
“The more there are, the more opportunities there is for every patient to find a donor,” she said.
While Jahed noted the drive is in Aaryan’s honor and isn’t specifically for his nephew, the family still hopes a match could be found at the city hall event.
“Anyone we can save we would reach our goal,” he said.
Besides the stem cell drive, anyone who wants to be tested is encouraged to visit www.match4aary.com and register.
