Hundreds of people in Edmonton's south Asian community answered the call to help a 13-year-old boy battle a rare form of leukemia Sunday, doing a simple test to see if they are a match for a bone marrow transplant.
A mass cheek swabbing event took over the Gurdwara Siri Guru Singh Sabha in Mill Woods, with the hope someone will prove a viable donor for Brampton Ontario's Noor Deol. An operation is the best bet for the teenager because a chromosome abnormality makes for high chances of the cancer returning, even if he enters remission.
The challenge is his community make up only 2.6 per cent of Canada's stem cell registry. Since those with shared ethnicity have the highest chance of proving a match, his family is rallying to the cause, asking healthy individuals between the ages of 17 to 50 to come out and get tested.
"What we need to do is get more people involved," argued Noor's uncle Raminder Gill, who organized the Edmonton event.
"You can't expect them to come to your fight - you have to bring it to them sometimes…One thing with our community, there's a lack of knowledge of the situation, but once you bring it out there they're more than willing to come out."
The clinic was organized after 2,300 Canadians of South Asians descent turned out to a December cheek swabbing event in Toronto, with none proving a match.
At least 500 people turned out on Sunday, hoping there is strength in numbers.
"If it saves someone's life, why not do it?" argued Ravi Sangh. "I'm a Sikh, I should be helping the community and the people, right? It's my responsibility… I'm going to tell my friends and they're going to tell their friends."
with thanks : edmonton : link above for detailed news.
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