Mackenzie Friedman, affectionately referred to as ‘Mighty Mack’, has a whole army of supporters who have come out, guns blazing, in response to the family’s urgent appeal.
Friedman was diagnosed with Acute Myeloid Leukaemia (AML) on Wednesday, 12 May and requires regular blood and platelet transfusions between her rigorous chemotherapy treatments. Friedman’s story has been spread far and wide and this brave little soldier has endeared herself to the South African public. Friedman was born a perfectly healthy bouncing baby girl with no indication of any serious underlying condition. After she experienced a sudden spike in her temperature, first-time mom, Megan Harrington-Johnson rushed her to the GP who further referred her to a paediatrician to run some diagnostic blood tests. It was with great shock and terror that the family learnt of Friedman’s life-threatening blood disorder and it has been an arduous journey for them since. Friedman’s tenacious fighting spirit has been evident in the regular updates that the family shares with their large social media following. She has fought her way through a bad infection and being in isolation in the hospital’s ICU. It was then confirmed that she would need a life-saving blood stem cell transplant from a matching donor as soon as possible.
“Please register as a blood stem cell donor so that you could potentially help save our little girl’s life or the life of another patient desperately in need of a transplant,” pleads Megan Harrington-Johnson. The chances of a patient finding a donor match is 1 in 100 000 within their own ethnic group and subsequently the more donors that register, the greater the chances of a patient finding a match. Anyone who is healthy and between the ages of 18 and 55 is eligible to register and if one is a successful match, the process of donating blood stem cells is as painless as donating blood, much like donating blood platelets. DKMS Africa, formerly known as The Sunflower Fund, is the South African entity of the global DKMS family. DKMS is a stem cell donor registry and has registered over 10.6 million donors worldwide. To register as a donor is a quick and simple process which involves a non-invasive cheek swab. Once you have registered online, a swab kit is sent to you via courier and then collected when you have completed the process. For more information or to register as a blood stem cell donor, visit www.dkms-africa.org or call 0800-12-10-82, weekdays between 8.30am and 4.30pm.
