6-year-old Fanele desperately needs a stem-cell donor

FANELE Memela’s life was upended when she was diagnosed with Acute Myeloid Leukemia in March of this year. The six-year-old hails from Glenmore and is in desperate need of a stem-cell transplant that could save her life.

As none of Fanele’s family members are a viable bone-marrow stem-cell donor match for the little one, the South African Bone Marrow Registry (SABMR) has activated a nationwide search to find a suitable donor.

Ramping up its donor recruitment efforts, the organisation hopes to give this twinkle-eyed Durbanite a second chance.

Fanele is currently undergoing chemotherapy until a matching donor is found.

Her mother, Gugu Mkhulisi, says that as a parent, all you want to do is to help and protect your child.

“In this instance, there’s very little I can do. I have to rely on the generosity and goodwill of others. It broke my heart when the doctors shared the news that none of us offered a good enough match. While this journey has been tough, it has opened my eyes to so much that I didn’t know about. I have learned about the dire shortage of black donors on the registry, which makes it so difficult for children like Fanele to get the help they need,” she said.

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A need for ethnic donors

According to the SABMR, black donors only make up a mere 10% of registered donors. That means there is a slim chance of finding a match for Fanele and other children like her.

A patient’s best chance of finding a match is within their own ethnic group. The lack of donors of colour is not unique to South Africa; globally there is a 27% chance of people of colour finding a match, compared to that of Europeans who have a 70% chance of finding a comparable tissue match.

It is for this reason that the SABMR has launched a crowdfunding campaign on BackaBuddy, to raise funds alongside the family to bolster donor recruitment efforts.

Kapil Premchand, SABMR Sustainability and Donor Recruitment Coordinator for the KZN region, says around 200 cases are referred to the SABMR annually, and the goal is to eventually be able to assist every patient.

“Our mission is to save as many lives as possible. Often, we find ourselves in a position where there is no suitable match, as in Fanele’s case, but this doesn’t deter our efforts. With this campaign, we aim to raise R500 000, which will help to get as many black donors as possible between the ages of 16 and 45 to sign up on the registry,” said Kapil.

Mkhulisi, who refers to her daughter as a superhero, says Fanele has many things she aspires to and hopes that her daughter gets the second chance she wishes for.

“Her future aspirations change as often as the weather. She has recently decided that she no longer wants to be a doctor (like me) but rather a singer. She loves her little brother who is six months old, and I would like for her to be around to spend many more years with him as they already share such a special bond,” she said.

Support Fanele on BackaBuddy: https://www.backabuddy.co.za/help-fanele-memela or donate via
Snapscan: https://pos.snapscan.io/qr/fanele-memela

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Become a bone-marrow donor:

“We are appealing to our fellow black South Africans to become bone-marrow stem-cell donors. It only takes three minutes to sign up, and if you’re a match, the stem-cell donation process is very similar to giving blood, and all the costs are covered by the registry,” says Kapil.

Sign-up here: https://sabmr.co.za/become-a-donor/

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