In Slavonski Brod on Saturday March 10th from 10 AM to 2 PM the Ana Rukavina Foundation will organize an action to join the Registry of voluntary hematopoietic stem cell donors.
With this action, the Ana Rukavina Foundation, in cooperation with the Croatian Leukemia and Lymphoma Society of Slavonski Brod, wants to help four year old Marino Dulj from Slavonski Brod. Marino has a rare genetic disorder called Hyper IgM syndrome which causes immunodeficiency. Children who have this disorder die at the age of five or six years old.
Marino’s life can be saved with stem cell transplantation, however, after searching the Registries around the entire world, a matching stem cell donor has still not been found. In Croatia, Marino’s two brothers also had Hyper IgM syndrome; one’s life was saved by his sister, while the other lost the battle against the disease. We are inviting all citizens to participate in this action to join the Registry, and by expanding the Registry increase the chances of healing all those who are suffering.
All healthy people between the ages of 18 and 40 can join the Registry by filling in an application form and a medical questionnaire and giving a blood sample for HLA tissue typing (the procedure for determining the tissue compatibility antigen).
The Registry currently contains the names of 33,924 potential donors and has already saved as many as sixteen lives!