Oh, how sad is this. I posted an appeal here once for ppl to donate blood or bone marrow in order to try and save this little girl's life. Now she's gone to heaven. I feel so bad. Anyways, thought I'd share this sad news with you guys.
Thoughts and prayers go with the family.
[DIV id=headline] [H2]Girl dies as search for donor falls short [/H2] [H3 id=deck]Bold efforts fail to save 'fighter' [/H3]
[DIV id=author] [P class=byline]EVA SALINAS
[P class=source]From Wednesday's Globe and Mail
[UL class=columnistInfo][/UL]
[DIV id=article style="FONT-SIZE: 100%"] [!-- dateline --]VANCOUVER[!-- /dateline --] — Three months after a worldwide campaign to find three-year-old Makoda Suen a blood or bone marrow donor began, the girl has died.
Makoda's parents, David and Joyce Suen, announced their daughter's death yesterday.
Surrounded by family and friends, Makoda died on Thursday, "peacefully in our arms," they said in a release.
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"In our eyes, she is a true fighter who never gave in to her disease or wavered from her determination. We could not be more proud," they said.
Makoda was diagnosed with a rare type of blood cancer called acute myelogenous leukemia one year ago and underwent at least five rounds of chemotherapy.
Her story became public as an urgent call was sent out for a bone marrow or blood donor after her cancer returned in March.
Doctors told news media at the time that the best chance of finding a match would be in Asia. Makoda's parents in Vancouver had adopted her from China two years ago, but the identity of her biological parents was unknown. It was reported that the little girl was abandoned near a government office in Chongqing.
In April, with help from the Ming Pao newspaper in Vancouver, Makoda's face was broadcast across television screens in China in hopes of finding her relatives.
People in Canada, China and Taiwan came forward to get their blood tested, and Dr. Kirk Schultz, acting head of oncology at B.C. Children's Hospital, reported that more than six million potential blood donors were checked internationally.
When news from China came that Makoda's biological family had possibly been located, Mr. Suen told media: "Nothing has been confirmed. . . . We can't get too excited."
Two months later, with no match, it was too late.
"In her year-long struggle, we saw our daughter endure circumstances that no child should need to go through," the family said in yesterday's statement.
"We are touched that the community wants to show their affection and sense of loss."
The family asked that the community continue to support finding a cure for leukemia and said Makoda's "smile and infectious laughter" will live forever in their hearts.
The type of leukemia she had is considered very rare for children. Around 100 children out of the 800,000 living in British Columbia have cancer. Dr. Schultz previously said that of those 100, only around half a dozen have the same leukemia that Makoda had.
[FONT size=1]Source: [/FONT][A href="vny!://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20060628.wxbcgirl28/BNStory/National/home"][FONT size=1]vny!://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20060628.wxbcgirl28/BNStory/National/home[/FONT][/A]
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