Dominic Mott, a 7-year-old Antelope boy battling leukemia, has found a potential blood donor match to his biracial heritage.
But family members fear Dominic's chances for survival may be slim, even if he has a successful transplant.
Dominic has been receiving chemotherapy at Sutter Memorial Hospital in Sacramento since his cancer relapsed in February. Doctors say the longer it takes to find a match, the weaker Dominic will be to undergo the transplant surgery.
"It's frightening that you are brought to near death to receive the transplant, and then you are virtually in a bubble for several weeks or months afterward," said Margie Mott, the boy's grandmother.
Even if the transplant goes well, Dominic has a 30 percent chance to survive, she said.
Dominic's fight has called attention to the need for multi- racial bone marrow donors, who make up only 2.5 percent of the national bone marrow registry. Dominic's mother is African American, and his father is white.
"As representatives of what's more and more a typical American family, we're very concerned and feel strongly that if people knew of the need, they would respond," Mott said.
Many minorities or biracial patients needing a bone marrow transplant never find a match, said Liz Ustick, a marrow recruitment specialist for BloodSource.
Another option is a transplant from donated umbilical cord blood, which doesn't have to be a perfect match, Ustick said.
But Mott said that because of Dominic's type of leukemia, his chances of relapsing would be slightly higher with the use of cord blood.
For information about blood and bone marrow donation, call BloodSource at (866) 822-5663 or go to the Web site: www.bloodsource.org.
Call The Bee's Lakiesha McGhee, (916) 773-7630.
