A young Kirkland woman is hoping a bone marrow stem cell donor will come forth and help save her Baie d'Urfé fiancé who has leukemia and needs a stem cell transplant. They're planning a public information event next month to encourage potential donors to come out.
Natasha Gomes said her 28-year-old fiancé Kevin Butterfill was diagnosed with a degenerative bone marrow disorder shortly after they got engaged early last year.
"He developed acute myeloid leukemia and we found that out on Monday," said Gomes who is trying to remain optimistic about the situation.
"It's been a crazy kind of year."
Gomes along with her sister are organizing a public event on February 4 at the Provigo Le Marché Kirkland to help find a donor. Héma-Quebec will be there giving out information and signing people up for online swab kits but won't be doing onsite cheek swabs and testing, something Gomes has seen done at events outside of Quebec.
"I don't understand that. If you have 200 people were tested and five of them ended up being donors and saving someone's life, I feel like that's the battle won, save five people's lives, but it's policy and I can't argue, I guess," said Gomes.
Laurent Paul Ménard of Héma-Quebec said they can't discuss individual cases but that in general, they don't do individual public registries for specific individuals but concentrate on stem cell drives mainly to target cultural communities who are under-represented in such registries such as the black and Asian communities.
"Not everyone wants to be a bone marrow donor and I completely understand that. It's scary," said Gomes.
"But I think if you educate yourself, that maybe it would be a good idea to join the registry."