Alex Pasichnyk is a 12-year-old girl who loves art, animals, swimming and is now in for the fight of her life. Everyone who knows Alex is devastated by this sudden turn of events, especially her parents (Lisa and Sheldon) and her sister (Kimber). She is a St. Albert resident who has attended École Father Jan and École Marie Poburan schools. She is currently enrolled at Lois Hole Elementary but sadly, has not been able to attend grade 6 this year because of her illness.
In June of this year Alex was diagnosed with Severe Aplastic Anaemia with PNH Clone. One child in a million is diagnosed with this. It is the worst of the worst to treat. She underwent a period of Intense IV drug therapy in hopes her bone marrow would recover which so far has not happened. The next step is an immediate bone marrow transplant. She has been on the registry since September and so far a match has not been found. She requires transfusions twice a week and many medications to survive.
This is where YOU come in. Potential donors are individuals between the ages of 17 – 35. We encourage you to contact www.OneMatch.ca to fill out a questionnaire, a kit is sent to your home, you swab your inner cheek, send the kit back in a postage paid envelope. Canadian Blood Services tell us that the best match would be a Caucasian male of the same ethnic origins. Alex’s mother is Polish/English, her Father Ukrainian. However, we encourage everyone meeting the age criteria to swab.
There are a few things potential donors need to be aware of. First of all a donor cannot limit themselves to only donating to Alex. If they choose to participate they may find out that they are a match for one of the other 800 people in Canada in need of a transplant. Should you be a match you can change your mind at any time, the choice is yours.
We are holding bone marrow drives where you can register and swab in person as follows:
St. Albert – Saturday Nov 25 at Servus Place, main floor, 11am to 2pm, located in the Campbell Business Park at 400 Campbell Rd.
Edmonton – Tuesday Nov 28 at Grant McEwan University from 9am to 12pm, Main Floor, Robbins Pavilion just off 109 St and 104 Ave
Sherwood Park – December 12 at Archbishop Jordan Catholic High School from 3pm to 6pm, 4001 Emerald Drive Sherwood Park
If a donor is found there are various ways of harvesting the stem cells, the most common way is very similar to a blood donation. Our understanding is people typically return to their regular activities the following day.
Please distribute amongst the various clubs, organizations, and contacts you have access to and hopefully they can take it to the masses they have access to and help get the word out. Thank you for your help, I know Alex and her family greatly appreciate it. YOU can potentially save a life.
We are also encouraging everyone to donate blood. Alex lives on at least two transfusions per week.