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There is hope for 12-year-old Linamandla Kwanyana who was diagnosed with acute myeloid leukaemia (blood cancer) in January, as she has nearly 500 potential donors offering to aid in her recovery.
Linamandla, from Nongoma in KwaZulu-Natal, has been fighting for her life for eight months and has missed out many days of schooling this year. As if that were not enough, the 12-year-old has been subjected to bullying from her peers, who make fun of her hair loss and refer to her as the girl with a shiny head.
READ:Youngster with cancer tormented by peers
DKMS Africa, an international nonprofit bone marrow donor centre, posted on its Facebook page that it was in need of a blood stem cell donor and that there was currently no match for Linamandla on the global donor registry.
After City Press published her story on Sunday (Youngster with cancer tormented by peers), the organisation said that nearly 500 potential donors had come forward.
DKMS Africa spokesperson Lizwi Ncaluka said Linamandla’s best chance of survival was through blood stem cell donation.
To prepare for the transplant, she will undergo chemotherapy to suppress her own immune system, which helps to ensure that the body does not reject the donation. After the transplant, the immune system gradually rebuilds itself.
The method used for a stem cell transplant depends on numerous factors, including the patient’s particular diagnosis, age and state of health.
The organisation said there were three different types of transplant. An autologous transplant uses the patient’s own stem cells, which are harvested from the blood and cleared of cancer cells. The patient is given chemotherapy and their stem cells are returned to the body.
An allogenic transplant uses the stem cells of a related or unrelated donor with the closest possible match of tissue characteristics, while a syngeneic transplant is the rarest form of stem cell transplant, as it involves using the cells of an identical twin.
READ: Fight against childhood cancer gets a boost
Linamandla’s mother, Londiwe Kwanyana (36), said the news of potential donors was good for her family.
“This year has not been easy for my child, but I am excited that there is hope for her. I am very excited and hopeful that something will come up so that next year she can go to school and be able to play her favourite sport, netball,” she said.
Ncaluka said a donor match comes down to genetics. Patients are therefore more likely to find a match from the same ethnic group as themselves.
“To change this narrative, DKMS Africa is hosting a donor recruitment drive for Linamandla as well as other patients Zamaswazi (6) and Luthando (16) on November 26 at The Playhouse Company in Durban from 10am to 3pm. We are encouraging black South Africans to join us on the day and register to give all these children a second chance of life,” she said.
