Wanted: A stranger to save this boy’s life (updated)

from The West Australian:

Perth teenager Ryan Lilburne is in a desperate race against time to find a suitable bone marrow donor before he develops a life-threatening aggressive leukaemia.

The 15-year-old was born with the blood disorder Kostmanns syndrome, which prevents his body fighting infections, and in February he received the news he had always dreaded — his bone marrow was evolving into a pre-leukemic state and he urgently needed a transplant to save his life.

His mother Natalie said hearing the test results had been devastating. “It was like someone ripped out my heart and threw it away,” she said.

The Lilburnes had always known Ryan was likely to develop leukaemia but they tried to keep it at the back of their minds and enjoy each day.

Mrs Lilburne said the hardest thing for family members was finding out they were helpless to save Ryan because none was a suitable tissue match.

There are no matching donors on the Australian Bone Marrow Donor Registry.

Mrs Lilburne said she was now appealing for more West Australians to register. “We are relying on the goodness of a stranger to offer their bone marrow to save our son’s life,” she said. “Ultimately we might not be able to help Ryan but we might be able to help someone else (who needs a transplant).”

Ryan has started chemotherapy to buy time while doctors search for a donor but the chance of a successful transplant decrease the longer it takes.

Tina Carter, director of the blood and marrow transplant unit at Princess Margaret Hospital, admitted Ryan urgently needed a donor. “He is at risk of developing a severe, aggressive leukaemia that is very hard to treat,” she said.

Ryan admitted he was scared but tried to stay positive, thinking of the benefits of a transplant. “I could be healthier after it and live a normal life,” he said.

City of Perth Surf Life Saving Club has organised a registry session on May 10 or potential donors can call the registry direct on 9421 2886.

(GABRIELLE KNOWLES)

•For more information and answers to FAQs on becoming a bone marrow donor, see the Australian Bone Marrow Registry website. Even if you cannot help Ryan, you may be able to save someone else’s life.  The Bone Marrow Donor Institute has even more answers to frequently asked questions.

• The Princess Margaret Hospital Foundation (PMH Foundation) is the official fundraising body for Princess Margaret Hospital for Children (PMH), Western Australia’s only specialist children’s hospital. More info on the Foundation here, and web site for the Childrens Leukaemia & Cancer Research Foundation (Inc.) here.

•For a message from Ryan’s parents, go here.

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CHANGE SOMEONE’S LIFE. GIVE THEM THE CHANCE OF A LIFETIME. BE A REAL LIFESAVER.

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UPDATE: via JP, American bone marrow registries here and here.

UPDATE #2: (23 April 11:46am) Andrew Bolt, often pilloried as a nasty right-wing head-kicker by the “caring compassionate Left,” demonstrates that he does indeed wear a White Hat, in using his widely-read blog to give further publicity to Ryan’s quest. Onya, Bolta.

UPDATE #3: via Emru Townsend, who’s looking for a donor himself, here is an international list containing contact details of different countries’ bone marrow donor registries.

UPDATE #4: 09/08/08  Ryan has now received a stemcell transplant from a French baby’s umbilical cord which proved a match.  It has so far successfully engrafted, but of course he is still very ill and the risk of GvH (graft versus host) and other complications are still very real and he won’t be fully “out of the woods” for months if not years.  Our thoughts and prayers for a speedy and full recovery go out to Ryan and his family.  Best of luck, mate.  Lots of people cheering for you.

UPDATE #5: 11/11/08 Ave atque vale, Emru.  Rest in peace.

Emru received a bone marrow transplant in September 2008.

While the donor’s stem cells completely engrafted and began producing healthy blood cells, Emru could never get into full remission and always had some leukemic cells in his body, which continued to spread, and he died peacefully on November 11, 2008.

However, there are people who are in a much better position to recover fully from a stem cell transplant who never find a donor and have no choice but to suffer the same fate as Emru.  Registering can help save one of the other 16000 patients worldwide waiting for a bone marrow or peripheral blood stem cell transplant.

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Children writing about the ocean: Courtesy, a friend.

1. This is a picture of an octopus. It has eight testicles.(Kelly, age 6 )
2. Oysters’ balls are called pearls. (Jerry, age 6 )
3. If you are surrounded by ocean you are an Island. If you don’t have ocean all round you, you are incontinent. (Wayne, age 7 )
4. Sharks are ugly and mean, and have big teeth, just like Emily Richardson. She’s not my friend any more. (Kylie, age 6 )
5. A dolphin breaths through an asshole on the top of its head. (Billy, age 8 )
6. My uncle goes out in his boat with 2 other men and a woman and pots and comes back with crabs. (Millie, age 6 )
7. When ships had sails, they used to use the trade winds to cross the ocean. Sometimes when the wind didn’t blow the sailors would whistle to make the wind come. My brother said they would have been better off eating beans. (William, age 7 )
8. Mermaids live in the ocean. I like mermaids. They are beautiful and I like their shiny tails, but how on earth do mermaids get pregnant? Like, really? (Helen, age 6 )
9. I’m not going to write about the ocean. My baby brother is always crying, my Dad keeps yelling at my Mom, and my big sister has just got pregnant, so I can’t think what to write. (Amy, age 6 )
10. Some fish are dangerous.. Jellyfish can sting. Electric eels can give you a shock. They have to live in caves under the sea where I think they have to plug themselves into chargers. (Christopher, age 7 )
11. When you go swimming in the ocean, it is very cold, and it makes my willy small. (Kevin, age 6 )
12. Divers have to be safe when they go under the water. Divers can’t go down alone, so they have to go down on each other. (Becky, age 8 )
13. On vacation my Mom went water skiing. She fell off when she was going very fast. She says she won’t do it again because water fired right up her big fat ass. (Julie, age 7 )
14. The ocean is made up of water and fish. Why the fish don’t drown I don’t know. (Bobby, age 6 )
15. My dad was a sailor on the ocean. He knows all about the ocean. What he doesn’t know is why he quit being a sailor and married my mom. (James, age 7 )

Clinton says US would ‘obliterate’ Iran

Hillary Clinton warned on Tuesday the US would “obliterate” Iran if it used nuclear weapons against Israel, in comments that could foreshadow a tough new doctrine of deterrence towards the Islamic republic.

“I want the Iranians to know that, if I’m the president, we will attack Iran,” Mrs Clinton said in response to a question about a possible Iranian nuclear assault on Israel. “In the next 10 years, during which they might foolishly consider launching an attack on Israel, we would be able to totally obliterate them.”

FinancialTimes

God, I love it when she talks dirty. In fact…GWB should do that same thing now and save Hillary the trouble.

Oh my WWOS?

UPDATE:

Clinton Projected Winner of Pa. Democratic Primary

Fox News

UPDATE:

Instapundit

 

Chelsea Clinton in NC, says mother more prepared than father

Apr 22, 3:01 PM (ET)

(AP) Chelsea Clinton, right, smiles as Tracy Gaudet, Executive Director of the Center for Integrative…
Full Image

DURHAM, N.C. (AP) – Chelsea Clinton says her mother would be a better president than her father because she is more prepared and more progressive.

Clinton told about 300 people at Duke University on Tuesday that former President Bill Clinton didn’t have a complete grasp of the inner workings of Congress when he took office in 1993.

The former first daughter said her mother, Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Rodham Clinton, will benefit from her time as a New York senator.

Chelsea Clinton said her mother knows how to be productive in Washington. She stands her ground on issues but knows how to work with Republicans. And that, she said, will help her mother navigate challenges and fulfill her campaign trail promises.

AP

Gosh, this gives me loads of comfort. Doesn’t it you?

Colorado State Rep Tossed From Floor for Calling Immigrants ‘Illiterate Peasants’

Breitbart TV

Come To Colorado…Our motto is…..We pay our “illiterate peasants” top tax dollars.

Obama’s Waffle Controversy… What Would Michelle Do?

“Barack Obama got cranky with a reporter today when asked a question at a diner about Jimmy Carter meeting with Hamas.”

“Why can’t I just eat my waffle?” he said, when asked a foreign policy question by a reporter at the Glider Diner.

Remember, this could be our President. Frankly, the only time I can see that question making any sense, or having relevancy IS, ‘Mr. President, the North Koreans have launched a missile and it is thirteen and one half minutes away, from striking Berkeley, California.

Talk Left

via

Instapundit

Muslims Demanding Change… Again

Once again, Muslims are calling for everything in the world to change to suit their ideological desires. The current move is to replace Greenwich Mean Time (GMT) with Mecca Time.

One geologist argued that unlike other longitudes, Mecca’s was in perfect alignment to magnetic north.

This of course, requires us to ignore the fact that magnetic north is constantly changing. But boy, will it be fun watching them move Mecca every couple of years! I wonder if they’ll use something like this? If so, it’s a good thing they’re constantly breeding with goats, because they’ll need an awful lot of them. I digress, however, and back to the article.

He said the English had imposed GMT on the rest of the world by force when Britain was a big colonial power, and it was about time that changed.

I’m thinking, if that’s the criteria for deciding what time standard to use, and it has to do with power, shouldn’t we be using a time standard from the USA? I mean, the same types of people pushing this Mecca-time thing are constantly telling us that the USA has too much power and is always taking advantage and pushing the boundaries, so let’s have fun with it!

I demand my USA time immediately. I expect nothing less from the Big Bad USA. I demand my full oppression! Stop giving me freedom and oppress me! I can’t rely on Australia to do it now we’ve gotten rid of that evil HoWARd.

A few comments about the Olympic Torch.

I wouldn’t recommend them, honestly, except that I made them. Here.

What Pope Benedict XVI Brought Home from America

The Pontiff has a smashingly good time in the United States, and received many choice gifts.

I’m wondering exactly where in The Vatican this will be displayed.