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Wellses seek help from 'America's Most Wanted' to find bone-marrow donor
By Joline Gutierrez Krueger
Tribune Reporter
April 29, 2005 - The rare blood disease that has threatened Kailee Wells' life for much of her eight young years has returned, sending her parents into another feverish search for the perfect bone-marrow match that could save her life.
And they're hoping that this time "America's Most Wanted" can help.
The Albuquerque girl underwent a bone-marrow transplant Jan. 25 at the Children's Hospital of Wisconsin in Milwaukee in the hopes of eradicating the very severe aplastic anemia that has plagued her for three years.
The transplant was conducted with donor cells that were less than a perfect match, but doctors appeared hopeful the transplant would be successful because it was bolstered with preliminary treatments and a combination of chemotherapies.
But in March, Kailee's parents announced that tests indicated Kailee's body was rejecting the new marrow cells.
On Thursday, Kailee's father, Owen Wells, said new marrow cells being produced by Kailee's body were afflicted once again with aplastic anemia.
"Therefore our choices ahead with be difficult ones," Wells said in an e-mail from Milwaukee, where the family moved in late 2003 to be closer to Kailee's doctors.
"I keep thinking what can we do to find the special person that will match Kailee and save her life while Kailee is still strong enough to survive a second transplant and, in all probability, her last chance at life?"
Doctors have told them Kailee must undergo a second transplant before she becomes too weak.
Wells is asking the public to write to Fox-TV shows such as "America's Most Wanted" to urge them to air their story in hopes someone with the same bone-marrow type will come forward.
"America's Most Wanted" receives hundreds of requests each week to do stories on cases involving unsolved crimes, according to its Web site, but Wells said he hopes the show could be urged to change its focus from finding a criminal to finding a donor.
"The response would very likely find many matches for lots of deserving children and give them the gift of life," he said. "If we are really fortunate, we could even find a match for our sweet Kailee."
A call to the show's publicity department was not returned.
The Wellses have led bone-marrow donor searches across the country and twice in China, where they adopted Kailee. With their efforts, matches have been found for 11 patients and brought in more than 200,000 new potential donors, the National Marrow Donor Program has said.
Kailee, Wells said, has endured months of pain and hours at the hospital, where she receives blood transfusions weekly. Today, she was scheduled to undergo her 13th marrow biopsy since the transplant, he said.
Marrow registry drive Coming up in Hancock
Ellen Manderfield demonstrates the testing method for prospective bone marrow donors.
Plenty more will have the chance to do the same during the Copper Country Marrow Registry drive on July 26.
By GARRETT NEESE, DMG Writer
HANCOCK — Tom Rosemergy’s donated bone marrow once before. And he wouldn’t hesitate to do it again.
“That’s really their only hope for survival — if they find a match,” he said. “That’s why it’s important to get as many people on the registry as possible to give people a second chance.”
Area residents will get their chance to sign up during the Copper Country Marrow Registry Drive, which will take place from 11:30 a.m. to 7 p.m. July 26 at the Finnish American Heritage Center. The cost is $52 or donation.
Donors will be added to the National Marrow Donor Program Registry, which includes more than 5 million stem cell donors and more than 28,000 cord blood units. Anyone between the ages of 18 to 60 are welcome, provided they meet the health guidelines, fill out a form, give a cheek cell swab and be willing to donate to any patient.
Bone marrow is used for many of the more than 30,000 people each year who are diagnosed with immune system and genetic disorders, or life-threatening diseases such as leukemia and aplastic anemia.
The drive was originally set up to benefit Doug Halgren of Hancock, who was suffering from a blood disorder. Like 70 percent of patients, he was unable to find a match within his family.
Next to family members, the most common matches are within a person’s ethnic group. But Halgren, who was Swedish, found no matches in the database.
As a result, friends and relatives organized the drive. But during the planning, Halgren took a turn for the worse, dying on July 2.
However, before his death, he made it clear he wanted the drive to continue. “He just wanted other people in the Copper Country who would go to the registry to have a chance at life,” said Julie Crowl, a friend of Halgren’s and one of the drive’s organizers.
Included on the drive’s committee are two residents with donation experience. Amy Basolo took part in a drive in the early ’90s to aid a boy in Calumet. Shortly thereafter, she was called upon to make a donation for another person. She called the donation “the easiest thing I’ve ever done.”
“It was a whirlwind ... but it was well worth it,” she said of the experience.
In Tom Rosemergy’s case, the marrow went to a 26-year-old man from Italy.
“Immediately, I was thrilled that I could help ... very honored,” he said. “Not knowing the individual didn’t really matter to me. I was given the opportunity to give someone a second chance at living.”
Anyone who wants to give marrow but is warily eyeing the $52 price tag shouldn’t worry. The drive committee is seeking cash donations from the community to handle registry fees for those who can’t afford to pay it.
“We don’t want to deny someone a test because they don’t have the $52 to process their test,” Curnow said.
Also, through a grant from the National Marrow Donor Program, college students, firemen, policemen and EMS personnel will have their tests processed for free. The same is true for African-Americans, Native Americans, Spanish and Pacific Islanders, of whom there is a “critical shortage” in the registry, Curnow said.
Crowl would like to see as many people come as possible. “If we have a rising number of Copper Country people on the registry, we will perhaps be able to help the next Copper Country family that looks on the registry,” she said. “I guess that’s my personal hope and desire.”
Garrett Neese can be reached at gneese@mininggazette.com
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