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 »  Home  »  Charity  »  Appeal for Stephen Dorcich
Appeal for Stephen Dorcich
By Marko Puljić | Published  05/16/2008 | Charity | Unrated
Please help little Stephen



Hi.  My name is Stephen Dorcich.  My family calls me Stjepan or little Stephen because my Tata is a Stephen too.  I am 18 months old and I like motorcycles, trucks and I love to climb!  I live in San Jose, California and I am a pretty normal kid except that I have Primary Immune Deficiency called Hyper IGM, CD40 Ligand. My immune system doesn’t communicate the right way, so I cannot fight off bacteria, viruses and other bad things that make us sick. I was diagnosed at 5 ˝ months old after I got a pneumonia called pneumocystis and was in the PICU at Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital at Stanford.  Fortunately, there is an IV treatment that I receive every 3 weeks called IVIG that helps my system fight off basic stuff so that I am not in the hospital all the time.  Also, I am lucky because my disorder can be cured with a Bone Marrow Transplant.    That’s why I am writing this letter.  I am still searching for a 10/10 match to make my chances of a good transplant happen.   My Mama is 100% Croatian and my Tata is 50% Croatian and the chances of finding a better match is with people who have my similar background.  There are over 10 million people in the registry already, but there are still adults and kids like me that haven’t found a perfect match yet.  If you would like to help and are interested in joining the National Bone Marrow registry, you can no matter where you live.  Check out this website: www.marrow.org and click on HOW YOU CAN HELP and then on JOIN THE DONOR REGISTRY.  From there, you can join in person or online.  You can either find a drive in your area or you can contact a center that is close to you to set up an appointment.  They will either take a cheek swab or draw a tube of blood.  I do know that most places will let you join the registry for free if you donate blood at the same time or donate at a drive.  It’s that easy!  Also, if you didn’t know, there is always a blood shortage so you can do 2 good things at once!  If you have any questions, the website is really helpful or you can call your local center.   Thanks for taking the time to read this and please pass this on to anyone you think might be interested.  The more people that join the better chance of saving a life, maybe even mine!!

Thanks again,  

Little Stephen Dorcich

For more information contact Marie Dorcich at  mariedorcich@sbcglobal.net

Formatted for CROWN by   Marko Puljić
Distributed by
www.Croatia.org This message is intended for Croatian Associations / Institutions and their Friends in Croatia and in the World. The opinions / articles expressed on this list do not reflect personal opinions of the moderator. If the reader of this message is not the intended recipient, please delete or destroy all copies of this communication and please, let us know! Or simply...enjoy and spread the word and good vibrations.

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Comments
  • Comment #1 (Posted by Ivan)

    Dear kum Stjepan, We have done two Blood Drives so far with hopes of more people joining the National Bone Marrow Registry. I wish every day I am your match! Hoping we find the perfect match real soon for you, kum.
     
  • Comment #2 (Posted by Ivan Margaretich)

    A good match was found for Little Stephen and his Bone Marrow Transplant was done on 2/4/9. 100 days in the hospital is expected and as of 3/3/9 he is growing new stem cells and on the road to recovery. Thank you to all that participated in the Blood Drives and would engourage all to join the National Bone Marrow Registry.
    Kum Ivan
     
  • Comment #3 (Posted by Ivan Margaretich)

    5/16/09 our Little Stephen just couldn't fight the fight anymore. His body had become too tired and The Gates of Heaven opened for him. His life journey (2.5 years old) was truly a lifetime with so many hearts and lives touched by his strength, his love and his fearless appetite for life. Thank you to all that joined his journey, helped our family and in part made this a better world. Little Stephen Dorcich's story was followed by so many on Facebook. Stjepan, I love you, I miss you, see you soon, your Kum Ivan (The Big Grizzly Bear)
    ROAR!
     
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