Thalassemia-hit Mysuru toddler urgently needs matching stem cell donor to survive

Bengaluru: Yohan, a three-year-old boy from Mysore, suffering from Thalassemia major, urgently needs a blood stem cell transplant from a matching donor for the treatment of blood disorder that is threatening his life.

DKMS BMST Foundation India is coordinating for the search to find a matching donor for Yohan, by conducting a virtual drive where volunteers between the age-group of 18-50 can register online to be potential lifesavers. Yohan's family has appealed for increased efforts to facilitate online registration of potential donors from across the country, so that the child can be saved from Thalassemia, an inherited blood disorder that causes the body to have less haemoglobin than normal. The child was detected with rare blood disorder when he was nine months old. Since then, he has been administered frequent blood transfusions to prevent anaemia. He is also undergoing chelation therapy to avoid the risk of iron overload and organ damage. Due to the severity of the disorder, doctors have advised an urgent blood stem cell transplant. They fear that there may be more health complications for Yohan, and he may run out of time if a lifesaver is not found.

Director and Clinical Lead, Paediatric Hematology, Oncology and Blood and Marrow Transplantation, Mazumdar Shaw Cancer Centre, Narayana Health City, Bengaluru, Dr Sunil Bhat said, "Thalassemia's burden is huge in India, with over 10,000 children are being diagnosed each year. One such case is of 3-year-old Yohan from Mysore, who is awaiting a blood stem cell transplant that will save his life. But for that, we need a matching donor. Unfortunately, only 0.04% of the Indian population is registered as potential blood stem cell donors, so it becomes harder for patients like Yohan to find a perfect match. It is crucial for more Indians to register so that more and more patients of blood cancer and other blood disorders can get a second chance at life."

The boy's mother Rashmi says, "Yohan is a cheerful child who is fond of music and loves playing drums and keyboard, but he has been fighting Thalassemia most of his life. He is too young to understand the seriousness of his illness. The only curative treatment for his condition is a stem cell transplant from a matching donor. The search for a perfect match has been a long one for us, and we've had no luck so far. Yohan deserves to live a healthy life, just like other kids of his tender age. I, as a desperate mother, appeal to all good-hearted people to come forward to participate in the virtual drive so that my child can urgently get a blood stem cell transplant and potentially a second chance at life."

The CEO, DKMS BMST Foundation India, Patrick Paul said, "Only 30% of blood disorder patients in need of a stem cell transplant are able to find a related match and about 70% of patients need an unrelated donor. In India, we see almost one lakh new cases of blood disorders every year, contributing to the disease burden consistently. Despite this huge burden, only 0.04% of the Indian population is registered as potential blood stem cell donors which is significantly lower than many other countries. The need of the hour is to address this gap, which can be done if we can increase our donor registration base and more and more people are willing to become donors." Link to register: dkms-bmst.org/Yohan