Donor hunt goes global

MORE THAN 10,000 people around the world have registered to become bone marrow donors after an international campaign was launched to find a match for a 31-year-old father suffering from blood cancer.

Adam Krief, from Los Angeles, was diagnosed with primary myelofibrosis — a rare and aggressive type of blood cancer — in July.

Since then, his family have been working tirelessly to find a bone marrow donor, said to be the only way to save his life.

Having failed to find a match in their local community, the family took their search across the US and even into Israel, France and Mexico.

Mr Krief’s wife, Leah, explained: “On that first day at our synagogue, we got about 600 people registered. Things just catapulted from there.

“Adam’ s cousins abroad started mobilising an international drive. In Israel, 2,000 people have been swabbed and the government has agreed to a national campaign on September 28. The last time they did something on this scale, 16,000 people registered on a single day .”

The movement has also gained celebrity backing, with comedian Ellen DeGeneres, retired basketball player Shaquille O’Neal and model Kendall Jenner tweeting their support.

A Facebook page started by Mr Krief to help process the test results has so far raised more than £100,000.

But despite their efforts, the family have yet to find a match. “The problem is that Adam is French Moroccan and minorities are so under-represented on registries,” Mrs Krief said. “They make up only three per cent on international registry. The goal to diversify the registry is something that drives us. If it doesn’t work for Adam, it’s going to work for someone.”

Although her husband’s health was declining rapidly, he had been energised by the reaction to their campaign.

“For the past two weeks, he has had round-the-clock high fevers. The doctors believe the cancer is getting more symptomatic as he is getting sicker every day. But he says he wakes up each morning enlivened by the beauty of everyone’s desire to contribute to this movement.

“We want to motivate as many people as possible to get on the registry. If a 31-year-old father of three young children can be the face of cancer, it can happen to anyone.”