Every year, 100 to 150 children in Ukraine need bone marrow transplants. For them, this surgery is the only chance of recovery. The Ukrainian Bone Marrow Donor Registry helps to find donors for these young (and not so young) patients. One of the families they are currently assisting is the Malinovskys from Kropyvnytskyi. We invite you to read their story.
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One Test Changed Everything
“My daughter fell ill with a viral infection, and the doctor suggested a blood test,” says Melania’s mother, who is four years old. “The results changed our lives completely. That was on December 13, 2023. After that, we were sent to Kyiv (we are from Kropyvnytskyi) for further examination. Melania was diagnosed with congenital bone marrow failure and aplastic anemia. A transplant was the only option. Melania has an older brother, but they have different fathers, so he couldn’t be a donor. We turned to the bone marrow donor registry. They are still searching for a donor for Melania.”
“The possibility of curing my daughter gives me great hope. I will be incredibly grateful to our future donor. I confess, I knew almost nothing about donation until my child got sick. But now I’ve reconsidered. In the future, I want to register as a bone marrow donor myself.”
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No Symptoms
“For now, Melania is surviving thanks to transfusions. We come to Okhmatdyt once or twice a week for blood transfusions. She receives platelet transfusions, which keep her active like any other child her age. Surprisingly, our daughter didn’t show any symptoms of a genetic disease. If it weren’t for a random blood test, we wouldn’t have known. The only suspicious sign were bruises on her legs. Sometimes she complained about the difficulty of climbing to the fourth floor. I thought she was just being lazy, wanting to be carried. After all, when she climbed with her dad, he always carried her. But it turned out to be the first sign of a serious illness.”
Dreams of Gymnastics
“Melania is a very strong girl. She’s so feisty! She’s very creative, loves to sculpt, draw, and string beads into bracelets. She’s also very flexible and wants to do dance or gymnastics in the future. Once, while we were waiting in line at the doctor’s, a girl approached us and invited us to join an artistic gymnastics group. She said she would wait for us until Melania turned four. I hope for my daughter’s speedy recovery. I want her to enjoy her childhood like other kids.”
Little Melania did find a donor and successfully underwent a transplant. Now she faces a challenging rehabilitation and recovery process. The simplest step anyone can take to help people in need of bone marrow transplants is to register as a donor. All you need to do is undergo a simple test. This step could save someone’s life in the future.
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