Please Help Send Ezra off to Glory

Ezra Marfo was born in June of 2020 in a small Albertan town. In 2021, Ezra was diagnosed with a rare form of Acute Myelogenous Leukemia (AML). Ezra died in hospital on Sep 16, 2022. Please help support the family with burial proceedings. The difficult-to-treat cancer requires a stem cell transplant as part of the treatment. Unfortunately, with very few Black Africans on the donor list, no complete match was found for him. His dad was found to be only a partial match and became a donor in September of 2021. Despite uncountable rounds of chemo, radiation and other treatments, Ezra had relapsed and passed away.

Ezra’s dad Jacob had been travelling nationwide in hopes of finding a match for Ezra. Jacob was bringing the awareness to the black African and Caribbean community about the importance of achieving greater ethnic representation in the Canadian Stem Cell donor list. Increased representation of Black Africans/Caribbeans in the Canadian Stem Cell donor list could mean better health outcomes when members in the black community are diagnosed with illnesses requiring stem cell donation. His efforts has brought increased representation as well as hope to the many Ezras who are currently awaiting potential lifesaving stem cell transplantation. Despite Ezra’s death, Jacob is dedicating his life to bringing awareness to stem cell so that no child ever goes through what Ezra went through without finding a match.made it journey has been rewarding however, To date there have been rallies in Edmonton, Calgary, and the Greater Toronto Area, Ottawa, Hamilton and Winnipeg. Future dates are planned to revisit previous locations as well as Montreal and Vancouver. We will continue to fundraise for Jacob and family for support for the funeral and arrangements as well as his journey to find a match for the many sons and daughters . With his efforts there will be increased education and increase black African & Caribbean representation in the Canadian Stem Cell Donor list. Funds will go towards burial arrangements as well medical and non-medical supplies required for rallies, travel expenses and accommodation. God richly bless you for taking time to read Ezra’s story and God bless you for your support and prayers.

https://toronto.citynews.ca/video/2022/08/06/swabbing-to-find-a-match-for-ezra/