KILLEEN, Texas — The Be The Match registry includes more than 22 million people ready to be life-saving bone marrow donors for a patient in need.
One Killeen family has learned that for some patients finding a match isn't so easy.
9-year-old MJ Dixon loves to play video games. However, lately, he has spent a lot of time in the hospital, which has not been as fun.
"I have cancer and I have leukemia," said MJ.
MJ's mom, Chaundra, stands in the kitchen preparing his medication.
"He takes a total of nine pills," said Chaundra.
Leukemia impacts the blood and bone marrow.
"I'm not a nurse. And giving my son a shot with this needle makes me cry," Chaundra added.
Chaundra says MJ will need a life-saving bone marrow transplant. The single mom of three quickly learned, patients are most likely to match a donor with their same ethnicity.
"It's harder to find one for my son because he's a Black child," said Chaundra.
Cameron Harvey, account manager for Be The Match, explained minorities have less than a 50 percent chance of finding a match right now.
The need for Black bone marrow donors is high, but awareness is often low. Organizations like Be The Match hope that will change with increased awareness.
"Only 30 percent of the time you're going to be able to find a match within your family and so that's another reason why it's so incredibly important to get more people on the registry," Harvey explained.
He says if you are a match, the most common way you can donate is at one of the many collection sites across the country.
Chaundra is working with Be The Match to organize a donation drive to get people on the registry.
"If you don't save my son's life, you can save another kid's life," said Chaundra.
If you would like to see if you could be a match for MJ, you can text MJ to 61474.
Chaundra has also started a GoFundMe to help with MJ's fight against leukemia.
