Register your bone marrow type April 17

Two-year-old Adam Danhoff's hope for a normal life might not have happened had it not been for someone who donated their healthy bone marrow. As you read Adam's story below, consider participating in the "Be The Match" bone marrow donor drive hosted by Children's Medical Center. This year, it is from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. on Friday, April 17, at three locations, including Children's at Legacy. Read more about the drive.

Adam, 2, contracted a severe type of pneumonia when he was little more than 5 months old. His pneumonia, not usually seen in infants, was cured but it eventually led to a diagnosis of Hyper IgM, a rare congenital immunodeficiency disease that causes infections, liver disease and, in some instances, the development of cancers. Because the defect lies in the cells of the immune system, the only curative therapy is bone marrow transplantation.

Adam's illness was diagnosed at Children's Medical Center by Dr. Maite de la Morena, an immunology specialist. It was also at Children's that he was lucky enough to receive a bone marrow transplant from someone who had registered their bone marrow tissue type with the National Marrow Donor Program (NMDP), a voluntary computerized registry of people willing to donate their bone marrow to an unrelated patient.

Because tissue type is inherited, patients are most likely to match someone with their own race and ethnicity, and there is a 25 percent chance that a sibling will match. Still, like Adam, most patients do not have a suitable family member to donate, so Children's turns to the NMDP to find a match from an unrelated donor.

The bone marrow transplant procedure rid Adam of his own unhealthy blood stem cells and replaced them with healthy blood-forming cells from the volunteer donor, essentially swapping Adam's dysfunctional immune system for one that functions properly.

Adam, who will turn 3 in July, will not have Hyper IgM once his new immune system fully develops, and he will have a second chance at a normal life — thanks to a stranger who took a few moments to register with the NMDP.

Tags: Bone Marrow , Bone Marrow Transplant , Legacy , Transplant , Volunteer