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Tania Murphy, a 42-year-old mother of a seven-year-old daughter and a four-year-old son, is now having to acknowledge the facts of her declining health.
On July 7, 2016, Murphy was diagnosed with leukemia.
Her doctors immediately put her on chemotherapy treatment. The first round was a one-week, 24-hour treatment session, which was then repeated twice more.
All of this, however, was unsuccessful.
Murphy still needs to find a matching bone marrow donor and receive a transplant in order to survive.
“I was so shocked. All through this process I have been willing to take on the chemo and months in hospital, anything to get better for my husband and kids,” Murphy confessed. “But now I am so powerless.”
Bone marrow matches are made by comparing ethnic backgrounds. Because Murphy comes from an ethnically diverse background, her chances of finding a match are even lower, and already, 20-25% of “applicants will not find a perfect bone marrow donor match.”
The family has now begun a national campaign, called Find Tan A Donor, to encourage people in Australia to register themselves as bone marrow donors, thereby increasing the likelihood that Murphy will be able to find a suitable bone marrow donor in time.
“If the cancer comes back, and I don't have a donor, it's basically death,” Murphy stated plainly.
Still, the family refuses to lose hope.
Murphy’s husband, Chris, says constantly, “[Our family] don't know what the future holds, but we will deal with what we have today and make it as great as possible. [Tania and I] plan to get old together and see our children get old and there is no point in thinking what if [we can't find a donor].”
There are only six weeks remaining during which potential donors can take the blood test to register a s donor – and qualify themselves within Tania’s window of opportunity. Please do what you can to help this family.
