oin Wolverines for Life at Pierpont Commons to help recruit bone marrow donors. This drive was established to help find a match for Natalia, an 8-year-old girl who may need a bone marrow donor soon.

Natalia was diagnosed with acute myeloid leukemia in August 2019. She has been hospitalized for most of the last few months at University of Michigan’s Mott Children’s Hospital, where she is undergoing chemotherapy. She has about 4 more months to go. Natalia has a very positive attitude. She loves to read (especially Percy Jackson and Warriors books) and do craft projects. Her nurses and doctors love her!

Hopefully chemo will be enough to cure Natalia’s condition. If it isn’t, she will need a bone marrow transplant. As of now, there are NO full matches in the bone marrow registries worldwide. Her 13-year-old brother and her twin sister are not matches.

Natalia’s mixed-race background – Cantonese, Latina (Salvadoran), and white (Dutch/German) – makes it especially hard to find a match. Her bone marrow HLA markers are predominantly Cantonese/white.