Potential Cancer Cures Stored Away For Lack Of Funds
POSTED: Friday, October 14, 2011
Channel 10
HOLLYWOOD, Fla. --Michael Arnold, 3, was diagnosed with leukemia this past summer. He's been in and out of the hospital ever since. Chemotherapy is killing the cancer cells, but Michael needs a bone marrow transplant.
Jay Feinberg knows what Michael's family is going through. He also had leukemia. But after four years, he found his match, a woman named Becky.
"It reaffirms the power of the individual, that it only takes one person to make a difference. This is an example of that," Feinberg said.
With that in mind, Feinberg started The Gift Of Life Foundation, a non-profit bone marrow registry. The Foundation has already made 2,300 life-saving matches.
Getting registered is easy. It just takes a simple swipe of your cheek cells. But the cost to process the sample is $55 and donations are way down.
"That's why, right now, 13,000 kits are sitting in this office waiting to be processed," Feinberg said.
That price tag to test his entire inventory is a hefty one. Processing all 13,000 samples would cost at least $700,000. But Feinberg says one small donation can make a big difference.
"About two years ago, we had a family who was able to clear 6,000 on the wait list. In three weeks they were on the registry and today they have found matches for 70 patients," he said.
That's what Michael needs -- a perfect match. His family hopes that match isn't sitting on an office shelf.
"I'm just doing everything i can to get people tested, to find a donor, so this nightmare can end," said Dustin Arnold, Michael's dad.
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