#LoveforLavinia

Lavinia Santos is my God daughter and has just turned 7 years old and appears to be like any other young girl – She loves dancing, singing, loves animals and wants to be a marine biologist when she grows up. But she has being battling a rare, life-threatening blood disorder since she was only 7 months old. At the age of 2 Lavinia was diagnosed with IFN-gammaR1 deficiency by the National Institute of Health (NIH) in Bethesda, MD.

Her body is unable to fight off micro bacteria, which are naturally occurring germs in the environment. Since her diagnoses, Lavinia takes several medications daily to fight against infections. When she does become ill, it is very hard for her to recover.

Lavinia needs a stem cell transplant to survive. But after 5 years of searching, there is currently no fully matched donor on the world’s largest and most diverse blood stem cell donor registry (BeTheMatch). 

Due to the long waiting time and the risk of medical complications with any new infection her doctors at Ann & Robert Lurie Children’s Hospital in Chicago had decided to do the Transplant with mom Ana Paula Santos. Parents are only a half match for their children and in this case Ana its 65% match.

She got admitted at the hospital on August 2nd , 2019 to start the treatment. Her parents are trying to do everything possible to help their daughter to continue living her life and fulfill her dreams.

I would like to ask for your support during this long and difficult process for the Santos family.

I am starting this GoFundMe campaign to help them cover medical expenses as well as living costs in Chicago during Lavinia’s treatment. 

Any donation it will be much appreciated. 

With love,

Rodrigo Lopes.