katie needs a bone marrow match

Just heard the story of another young person in desperate need of a bone marrow donor... Katie Cramer, a 16-year-old Chinese American adoptee, is suffering from acute myeloid leukemia. Her mother is looking for donors in China after her search for a match in the U.S. failed. Here's one of the stories from Chinese media: To The Ends Of The Earth. Here's some background:

For the next few years Katie lived pretty much a normal teenage life. Sadly, on April 9, 2010 at age 16, doctors discovered Katie had a relapse of leukemia. Undergoing a stem cell transplant, doctors have determined she needs a bone marrow transplant. To date through the National Marrow Donor Program and the Asian American Donor Program no tissue matches have been found.

At this point, time is critical. Doctors have said Katie has a window of 5 weeks that would be optimal for a bone marrow transplant. The Cramer family is in need of resources and your prayers to meet this challenge. Doctors have informed Katie's mother that the best chance of finding the person with a tissue match is in Katie's birth place – Guangxi, China.

July 1, 2010, Sherrie Cramer is flying to the province Guangxi, China. She is going to start a donor drive and look for relatives of her daughter Katie. There are no detailed birth records to go by. She only knows approximately where and the month/year Katie was born. We are praying women who gave up their babies to the orphanage at that time will hear Katie's plight and come forward. Finding Katie's birth mother could bring a 25% possibility of a tissue match. A miracle will bring a random donor match from the area or anywhere in the world.

I don't think I have to stress how urgent the situation is for Katie. I know I post a lot of things about bone marrow match searches, but a life is a life. For more information about Katie Cramer, go here. For more information about joining a marrow registry, go to the Asian American Donor Program website here.