Residents come together to help little Maddy (2)
Maddy's family is appealing to the community to get their cheeks swabbed and register on the database.
Genevieve Roberts from Trinityhouse Little Falls helped organise a donor drive at the pre-primary school on August 29 in aid of two-year-old Maddy Chesworth who was recently diagnosed with Acute Lymphoblastic Leukaemia, a form of blood and bone marrow cancer that affects the white blood cells.
Members of the community can help save her life by simply doing a mouth and cheek swab test with DKMS – free of charge. The wonderful part of this selfless act is that if you aren’t a match for Maddy, you might just be a match for another child or adult fighting blood cancer. Becoming a donor is considered a life-saving selfless act of kindness.
According to Roberts, more than 100 residents registered to be a donor during the drive, giving those fighting blood cancer even more hope of one day being free of this unapologetic monster.
• Also read: 2-year-old needs your help to overcome Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia
Norman Chesworth, Maddy’s father, and his sister Ashley Bellini both helped give out testing kits and explained the whole process to those unsure of what to swab and where to sign.
“Every single person is giving Maddy a better chance at saying goodbye to her cancer once and for all,” he said, thanking those who have gone out of their way to help his two-year-old.
Maddy is currently home, after seven days in the hospital, and continuing with her gruelling immunotherapy treatment that lasts 23 hours a day.
Maddy’s family is appealing to the community to get their cheeks swabbed and register on the database. If your business or school can organise a donation drive, you are encouraged to contact DKMS and arrange a drive to not only help Maddy, but the thousands of people who desperately need a match to survive.
Click on the link to register: https://www.dkms-africa.org/register-now
