As many of you know, sweet Malakai was diagnosed with Leukemia at the age of 3. Malakai’s doctors confirmed that he has a rare sub-type of ALL that is called “PH-like.” What this meant for Malakai was that his type of leukemia was not responding to his chemotherapy treatments. This sub-type is rarely seen in children which makes it more difficult to treat. In September 2019, Malakai underwent a stem cell transplant. Knox, Malakai’s little little brother, went  through the process of donating the cells needed for this transplant. Malakai then endured the monthly bone marrow biopsies and blood work to track his progress.

In January 2021, Malakai’s family received the devastating news that the leukemia had returned. Within moments of hearing this news, the family suffered the whirlwind of emotions and stress the last two years of hospital stays, treatments, and doctors appointments has put them through! Malakai was accepted into a clinical trial at Stanford, which will be using CAR-t cells. Malakai and his Mom will be in Stanford for about a month.  If treatment goes as planned, they will proceed back to UCSF for another bone marrow transplant.  This time Kirk, Malakai’s dad, will be the donor for the cells. They are then expecting to be at UCSF for an addition 3 months. Rebecca, Malakai’s mom, has once again needed to take much time away from work to care for her son away from home. COVID will prevent them from much needed visits from family and friends for support. In addition, lots of resources are currently postponed due to COVID, making the process more grueling than before.

They could never ask for help, but are so deserving of it.  We want to help minimize their financial stress as much as possible so they can focus on Malakai’s recovery. We ask that you continue to pray for Malakai and his family. We will make our best attempt to keep everyone up to date through this journey. Thanks to everyone for their love and support! #rallyformally