THIS year’s Mother’s Day, which was Sunday, a 15-year-old girl in Shenzhen expressed her gratitude in a touching and special way — donating bone marrow to her leukemia-stricken mother, Shenzhen Economic Daily reported yesterday. The girl’s mother, aged 43, was diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) half a year ago. According to Shenzhen No. 2 People’s Hospital, where the patient was hospitalized, the incidence of ALL is approximately 0.67 cases per 100,000 people. Du Xin, director at the hematology department of the hospital, said the patient needed to undergo a hematopoietic stem cell transplant, also known as a bone marrow transplant. “It takes a long time to wait for free donors in the Chinese bone marrow bank and the chances of matching are low. So patients are usually advised to seek a potential donor among their relatives,” Du was quoted as saying. The girl, identified as Xiao Zeng, was a potential donor for her mother. To her father’s surprise, Xiao Zeng decisively said “yes” at her father’s suggestion. After an examination, Xiao Zeng was found to be eligible for the transplant. She completed the collection of peripheral blood stem cells in accordance with the instructions of doctors. Generally speaking, non-relative donors must be at least 18 years old, but there is no such requirement between close relatives, Du said. And the good news is: the physical health indicators of Xiao Zeng’s mother have gradually improved since the transplant. (Zhang Yu) |