Taahirah needs your help
Taahirah Msomi appeals to residents to donate bone marrow so other people like herself have a chance to find their donor match.
TAAHIRAH Msomi (13) is just like any other girl of her age. She loves listening to music, dancing, shopping, swimming and hanging out with friends and family. But there is one exception. She has a life threatening illness.
The Newlands East Secondary School Grade 9 pupil, who previously sat on the school governing body and was the representative class learner, needs a bone marrow stem cell transplant urgently.
At the end of October last year Taahirah started complaining of terrible body pain, especially in her joints. She was also experiencing a high fever and vomiting and was later diagnosed with Acute Myeloid Leukemia. After four rounds of chemotherapy it has been confirmed that she will need to undergo a bone marrow stem cell transplant to survive. Her diagnosis has left her family heart-broken and in shock.
Taahirah has a sister, Nazeerah aged nine and a brother, Aadil aged two. Both her siblings have been tested and neither of them are a match for her. The South African Bone Marrow Registry (SABMR) is currently being searched for a possible donor match.
“Ethnicity plays a significant role and we would like to encourage the coloured community to come forward to become donors as you could be Taahirah’s, or another patient’s, only chance of survival”, urged her parents, Patson and Renelle.
“A donor match can only be found within your own ethnic group and it is like looking for your twin, continues Patson and Renelle. Taahirah has a very positive attitude towards her illness and she knows that she will find her donor match, have a bone marrow stem cell transplant and her life will go back to normal,” they said.
The family urged everyone who is healthy, between the ages of 18 and 45 and weighs more than 50kgs to phone The Sunflower Fund’s toll free number (0800 12 10 82) and find out how to become a donor for anyone with a life-threatening blood disorder in need of a transplant.
The chances of finding a bone marrow stem cell donor match is one in 100 000 within your own ethnic group and currently there are only just over 65 500 donors on the South African Bone Marrow Registry.
