Four-Year-Old Devan doesn't just need a bone marrow transplant -- he needs a donor that has the same Human Leukocyte Antigens he has. Because Devan is of mixed heritage, matching his tissue markers is particularly challenging. Doctors say that Devan only has a one in 200,000 chance of finding a match, and not nearly enough people are signing up to become donors.
As HuffPost Impact has reported previously, becoming a bone marrow donor is simple, and the donation process is much less invasive than most people think.
Bone marrow extraction is an outpatient procedure, and the most common method is comparable to giving blood, but for a bit longer. There are many ways to sign up for the bone marrow registry, but it takes time to process your sample and file you, so the sooner the better.
Go to Be The Match and order a registration kit. You'll just have to swab the inside of your cheek and mail it back. That's it. You might never be called, but if you are, you will save a life. (If you're in the UK, you can sign up from the NHS Anthony Nolan Trust.)
Devan is one-fourth South Indian and three-fourths Northern European. Doctors say Devan is most likely to find a donor of mixed South-Asian and European ancestry.
The more people who sign up, the greater chance Devan will have of beating leukemia.