Erin’s Journey with Aplastic Anemia

In early December of 2022 four year old Erin Jasinski and her family began investigating a series of concerning and puzzling symptoms that began abruptly after Erin recovered from the flu. After many weeks, much anxiety and worry, and more questions than answers, Erin found herself in the capable hands of the pediatric hematology practitioners at Dana Farber in Boston, MA.

Here, the Jaskinskis received the exceedingly rare diagnosis of Aplastic Anemia. This particular blood disease is a true medical anomaly with ~50 children a year receiving it and immediate treatment is absolutely critical to Erin’s health and wellbeing.

Erin will be undergoing a bone marrow transplant and follow up treatment at Dana Farber for the foreseeable future. Bone marrow transplants are extremely invasive and while often successful, are deeply taxing to the entire family physically, emotionally, and financially.

If you happen to have the good fortune of knowing Erin, Colin, Laura and Luke then you are well aware that this could not have happened to a kinder family. Erin’s infectious spirit and joy is bigger than her body. From her wildly bouncy curls, to her colorful and eclectic fashion sense, to the innocence and excitement with which she sees the day in front of her, Erin is magnetic and lovable in all of the best ways. She is funny, gentle, and most of all… she is unapologetically herself in all ways always.

Erin is facing a future that no child should ever have to. She, Laura, Luke and Colin will manage a burden that is incomprehensible to most of us. In addition to the uncertainty of Erin’s health, they are also enduring the financial impossibilities that come hand-in-hand with childhood illness. The cost of food, lodging, and travel back and forth to Boston paired with the medical bills that have already arrived and those that are incoming over the next several months will be astronomical and insurmountable for one family to withstand alone.

Any donations made on this page will go directly to Erin’s medical care beginning with her impending bone marrow transplant. Donations of any size are hugely impactful to the Jasinskis and will have a lasting influence on their family.

Laura and Luke’s bravery over the last several weeks has been truly awe inspiring. We all know that the community of Niskayuna takes care of their own and will rally behind them so that they can focus solely on getting Erin the care she needs to live a long and healthy life.