February 2005 - Eleven-year-old Greg Hachey, the youngest son of Mark and Cora Hachey of Puyallup, WA is fighting for his life, as family and friends search desperately for a bone marrow and/or peripheral stem-cell donor that is a match for him. Greg suffers from Relapse Acute pre-B cell Lymphoblastic Leukemia (ALL), for which the only known cure is a peripheral stem-cell donation (much like giving blood i.e., a simple procedure were stems cells are removed from the donor's blood and the rest is returned to the donor ) or bone marrow transplant (a fairly simple surgical procedure) from a suitable donor.

The son of a Caucasian father and a Filipino mother, Greg's search for a suitable match has been complicated by the nature of his bone marrow tissue type matching. The complication stems from the lack of Asians, particularly Filipinos not being registered, as bone marrow donors. Because tissue type varies by ethnicity, Greg's matching donor will most likely be found among people like himself, i.e., people with one parent being Caucasian and the other Filipino and/or full blooded Filipino.

Nonetheless, there is a chance that others of Asian heritage may also be a donor match for Greg, i.e., an individual with one parent that is Caucasian and the other being Chinese, Japanese, Korean, etc. Who knows a full-blooded Filipino, Asian Pacific Islander (API), Chinese, Japanese, Korean etc., may be his perfect match?

"Time may be running out, for our son unless a bone marrow match can be found soon", stated Greg's father. He further pleaded, "This is why my wife and I are praying that those in the Asian community, as well as those that may have at least one parent that is Asian, especially Filipino, Chinese, Japanese etc., please help us to save Greg, as time is running out." 

"I am sad that my life is being threatened by a random disease. I am far more saddened by the possibility of being separated forever, from my family, and from my many friends," said Greg in May when his leukemia reached a crisis stage, giving him only months to find a match. Despite efforts of family and friends, Greg's search for a marrow donor has been unsuccessful.

"Just as we inherit our eyes, hair, and skin color, we inherit our bone marrow in the same manner. When a patient is looking for a donor, his best possible chance to find a suitable donor is through his own ethnic community," says Greg's Dad. In addition, the Asian American Donor Program, one of three recruitment programs in the country focusing on Asian Americans has informed the Hachey family that the small number of Asian Americans listed in the National Marrow Donor Program registry makes Greg's search extremely difficult.

Greg's family and friends have launched an international campaign to raise awareness about the lack of Asian donors and to register as many Asians as possible in the hope that one will match Greg. One particularly successful effort has been the creation of a web site http://www.greghachey.com, which has been visited by several wishing to learn more about Greg's need for help.

News of Greg's situation needs to spread across the globe through the web site, mass e-mail distribution, and reporting in the local, international, and ethnic media. Greg's family prays that more Asians and those with Asian parents especially Filipino will register, as soon as possible with a bone marrow organization. Their hope is that the more that do so will hopefully provide the miracle they are praying for to save their son's life.

Their hope is that across the country, marrow typing drives will be organized on Greg's behalf, by people with compassionate hearts who don’t even know him, who have learned about his situation and simply want to get involved.

Registering as a marrow donor is a simple process. Potential donors give a small sample of blood that is tested for its tissue type and entered into a national registry. In the event of a match, donated marrow is extracted in a simple surgical procedure at a site convenient for the donor.

Greg's parents stated, "Because of the time delay involved in testing and entering new donors in the national registry, it is important to act now, if we're going to save Greg's life."

"It only takes one person," says Greg's loving parents, "That person is out there somewhere. It’s just a matter of finding them."