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Family seeks bone marrow transplant for Norwich woman
By ADAM BOWLES
Norwich Bulletin
NORWICH -- When Ashley Pemberton's 3-year-old daughter visited her at Yale-New Haven Hospital in New Haven, she brought her mother some small rocks.
Pemberton's own mother, Cynthia Pemberton, thought the gift from Jenissa was appropriate.
"Solid as a rock," is how she described Ashley, who is suffering from aplastic anemia, a group of disorders in which the bone marrow fails to produce enough blood cells and may develop into leukemia.
As mentally tough as she may be, Ashley Pemberton, 22, faces a potentially life-threatening disease and is physically weak and in need of help.
The condition is rare, affecting only one to two people for every million in the United States, according to the American Cancer Society.
After suffering from a cough and blurry vision, Pemberton was admitted to the hospital for 10 days of care, including four treatments, or injections, to boost her white blood cells. Pemberton was discharged Friday.
The effectiveness of the treatments won't be known for several weeks.
In the meantime, a bone marrow drive will be held Aug. 5 at Norwich Free Academy to try to find a match for Pemberton.
Pemberton's aunt, Judy Bell, who described her niece as a "fighter," is organizing the event.
Her concern, though, is minorities typically don't participate in such drives, and Ashley is black. No one in Ashley's immediate family -- she has three older siblings -- is a match.
Regan Hall Reinerth, spokesman for the National Marrow Donor Program, said blacks are more aware of prostate cancer and diabetes than they are of blood disorders.
She said a patient's most likely match is from someone of the same race or ethnicity.
"We recognize there are blacks and African-Americans who could be served, but they can not find a match because there is not enough people on the registry," Reinerth said.
Ashley Pemberton, a patient technical care worker at The William W. Backus Hospital in Norwich, has gone through hardships before. Her father died on her 11th birthday. At the time, doctors said pneumonia was the cause. Now, however, the family wonders if he actually suffered from a type of leukemia.
Cynthia Pemberton, 47, and a Norwich resident since she was 19, said her first reaction to her daughter's illness was that it was unfair. But she said she is putting her hope in God.
"I haven't been to church in a while, but this has brought me closer back to God," she said. "Lately, I've really been in my Bible. It doesn't matter what doctors say, or what I see, or how my daughter feels -- even if she feels like giving up -- I know that God has the last word and that he is a miracle worker."
Pemberton said she is determined to make it through the trial.
"I have plans for the future for me and my daughter," she said.
Reach Adam Bowles at 425-4255 or abowles@ norwichbulletin.com
IF YOU GO
# What:Ashley Pemberton bone marrow drive.
# When:9 a.m. to 1 p.m., Aug. 5.
# Where:Norwich Free Academy.
# How:Participants who are between ages 18 and 60 and who meet the health guidelines register with the National Marrow Donor Program by giving a small blood sample or cheek cell swab.
# Cost: Free for anyone who is at least part minority thanks to federal funding to encourage minority involvement; free for the first 20 white people; $52 for each white person after that.
# For more information, call Judy Bell, Pemberton's aunt, at 501-1367.
AT A GLANCE
# About 35,000 people a yearneed bone marrow transplants in the United States, according to the National Marrow Donor Program.
# Since the program was createdin 1987, 25,000 people received transplants, including 1,000 people who described themselves as black or African-American.
For more information about bone marrow donations, leukemia or aplastic anemia, contact:
# National Marrow Donor Program, 1-800-627-7692, or visit www.marrow.org
# American Cancer Society, 1-800-ACS-2345, or visit www.cancer.org
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