Bringing hope to save a life
41 members of Melbourne’s Jewish community were tested at the SpiritGrow Centre in Melbourne on Tuesday evening in an attempt save the lives of four Jewish children dying from leukaemia.
Ariel Reichental, Esther Ciechanowski, Loren Sabel and Shula Endrey-Walder
Amongst those tested were Rabbis, doctors, students and two sons of a woman who was transplanted with healthy cells to cure her Leukaemia 20 years ago. Some quoted J-Wire as the source of their awareness of the Gift of Life program.
Esther Ciecanowski popped in to the centre to say hello. She saved the life of a young Israeli Leukaemia patient 5 years ago and came to tell her story to all who were at the centre completing their ABMDR/Red Cross medical questionnaires before having a two teaspoon blood test. The likelihood of finding a match is not great, in fact it is only 1 in 10 000 for the 4 Jewish children .A Stem cell donor is more likely to be found in the Jewish community which is however underrepresented on the World Donor Registry.www.giftoflifeaustralia.org.au
