Support Eliza Newton's Fight Against Aplastic Anemia

Eliza Newton is a 14-year-old girl who recently graduated from the 8th grade. She was recently diagnosed with a very serious blood disorder called Aplastic Anemia. Eliza is an only child, and she lives in Vista, CA with her Mom and Dad (Rob and Danielle Newton). They are members at Ascension Lutheran Church in Escondido, where Eliza was recently confirmed. She attended Beautiful Saviour Lutheran School (now Carlsbad Christian School) from K-5th grade.

She is a strong and talented athlete who has dedicated the last 5 years of her life to being the best she can be in the sport of BMX racing. She travels all over the USA with her team, racking up National points and competing against the best of the best in her age group. In 2023, she won World Championships for girls aged 12 & under, and in 2024, she earned the National Age Group #1 title. She was at the top of her sport, working out 6 days a week, and had already racked up 22 National race wins in the first 4 months of 2025.

Then, in a matter of 10 days, Eliza went from racing strong and fast, to feeling tired, and being unable to sprint with the same force as she was used to. Her coach and racing friends saw that she looked pale and had trouble catching her breath after short sprints at practice. Then Mom and Dad saw unexplained bruising all over her legs – tiny purple dots that looked like pin-pricks. They took her to Urgent Care where the doctors ordered a CBC blood test. Two days later the results came back and the doctor called her to discuss the seriousness of the results. The doctor said she had to go to the ER immediately! This was quite a shock to everyone. But they went to the ER and remained hopeful that it was just a simple sickness or perhaps dehydration or overtraining that was the culprit.

At the ER, the doctors ordered more blood tests and performed an ultrasound to check for internal bleeding. The blood tests showed extremely low levels of all 3 types of blood cells (Red Blood Cells, White Blood Cells, and Platelets). She was transferred to Rady Children’s Hospital in San Diego where she underwent more blood tests, a bone marrow biopsy, and received the first of many blood and platelet transfusions. Her hospital stay lasted 6 days. The diagnosis of Aplastic Anemia is extremely rare. It is usually an autoimmune disorder with no known cause.

She has been hospitalized 2 more times after that initial stay, once for uncontrollable menstrual bleeding and another for a cerebral hemorrhage (brain bleed). The doctors are now keeping her Platelets up with 3x weekly transfusions to stop these bleeding episodes. The good news is that a Bone Marrow Transplant (the only cure for Aplastic Anemia) is on the horizon! She has many 10/10 matches in the NMDP, the registry commonly known as “Be the Match”. Her transplant doctor hand-picked the top 6 matched donors and we’re moving forward with the best one, who is able to donate in early August.

Eliza will receive her Central Venous Catheter in late July, and then she will undergo a short round of chemotherapy followed by a light dose of radiation therapy before the Bone Marrow Transplant. She will likely lose all of her hair, and the entire transplant procedure will require being in the hospital for approximately 5-6 weeks. The recovery timeline for full healing is normally listed at 1 year.

Eliza has remained strong and courageous since being diagnosed. Her faith has not faltered at all, and she remains confident that the Lord is with her every step of the way. She is human though, and somewhat scared from time to time, but her Mom, Dad, Pastor and the entire church always cover her in prayer during these times.

Rob works as a technician and test specialist at a local aerospace company, and Danielle works part-time as a Math and Reading tutor. Rob’s health insurance is good, but as to be expected, there are lots of hospital bills, co-insurance, and deductibles to be met. The money fundraised here will go toward paying these expenses.