Support Adam Critchley's Bone Marrow Transplant
Donation protected
This is my nephew Adam, a spunky 3.5-year-old who loves trains, stars, and cookies! Earlier this year he fell very ill while living in the Dominican with his mom. After being in and out of hospital in the Dominican and not getting better, we decided it was best for him to be transferred to BC Children’s Hospital in Vancouver where they had access to more resources. In July, Adam’s grandma and dad (aka my mom, Liz and my brother, Andrew) brought him back to Canada where he was admitted to BC Children’s right away. After countless tests over several weeks, he was diagnosed with Familial HLH. It is a rare genetic disease affecting the body’s bone marrow and immune system. It is fatal within 2-6 months of diagnosis if left untreated. The only cure is a bone marrow transplant (BMT). He is currently receiving treatment to manage the symptoms, however these lose their effectiveness over time.
A short while ago I made a social media post for people to sign up to be bone marrow donors in hopes of finding Adam’s perfect match. After a discussion with Adam’s doctors, it has been determined that due to Adam’s complex ethnicity, the odds of ever finding a perfect match are next to zero. Right now, his best chance for a cure is to receive a BMT from his mother, Yisel, who is a partial match.
There have been many costs associated with Adam’s illness that my family has been personally covering and will continue to do so as Adam will likely have to stay at Children’s for another five to six months: Adam’s medical expenses in the Dominican ($7000), Flights to and from the Dominican for Andrew and Liz to retrieve Adam ($5000), relocating from Kamloops to Vancouver ($24 000), flying Yisel to Vancouver ($1000) so she can donate her bone marrow and be by Adam’s side, Andrew and Liz commuting biweekly from Vancouver to Kamloops for work and home maintenance ($1000). The total cost for my family will be approximately $38 000.
I would like my family to be able to focus on supporting Adam and spending quality time with him while he is at BC Children’s hospital. The goal of this fundraiser is to help with these costs and relieve some of the stress on my family so they can fully focus on spending time with Adam. Thank you so much if you’re able to help out my family with a financial donation. If there is excess money, it will all be donated to the BC Children’s Hospital Foundation.
If you’re not able to donate financially, please instead consider becoming a stem cell donor if you’re healthy and between the ages of 17 and 35 in Canada or 18 and 44 in the US. You likely won’t be Adam’s perfect match, but you might be someone else’s and can change their life instead. It’s easy and painless to be added to the registry.
Co-organizers (2)
Alisha Critchley
Organizer
Kamloops, BC
Andrew Critchley
Co-organizer