Family thanks Hawai'i for effort that led to bone marrow match
By Karen Blakeman
Advertiser Staff Writer
Four-year-old Sara Choi is taking tap-dance lessons, looking forward to starting school in September and spending the holidays getting to know her grandmother and uncles in Hawai'i.
Photo courtesy Choi family
Two years ago, the tiny New Yorker's outlook was not as rosy.
Seong-Mi Choi holds Sara, 4, who had leukemia at 16 months and found a bone marrow donor in April 2002. The family, including father Kenneth Choi, who was raised in Hawai'i, and little sister Allison are visiting family here until Jan. 8.
Diagnosed with leukemia at 16 months, Sara needed a bone marrow donor. Her mother became pregnant, but her new sister, Allison, was not a match. The family launched an international search for a donor.
Sara's grandmother, Rita Choi of Westlock Fairways, worked with the Hawaii Bone Marrow Donor Registry at St. Francis Medical Center to search in Hawai'i. Many volunteered, but no matches were found.
Sara's tiny body grew weaker. Three months after the search began, a donor stepped forward, and the girl underwent surgery in New York in April 2002.
"The first couple of weeks afterward were touch-and-go," said her mother, Seong-Mi Choi. "Right after the transfusion, she came down with the flu."
Sara's immune system was weak, and radiation therapy had made her bones brittle. In May, she fell out of bed and broke her collarbone.
Sara has been growing stronger recently, her mother said, and putting much of the poor health and hospitalization behind her.
She's taking tap dancing lessons, and her doctor said she was well enough to take a trip to Hawai'i, where her father, Kenneth Choi, was raised. The family arrived Dec. 17 and leaves Jan. 8.
"She's having a ball," Seong-Mi said. "We went to the aquarium today and we went to Ala Moana beach yesterday. She and her sister have been having birthday parties with their grandparents and uncles."
Sara has demonstrated her dancing technique for the Hawai'i branch of the family.
"She is very, very good," Rita Choi said of her granddaughter. "She is almost back to normal after one and one half years. That is amazing."
Seong-Mi said her daughter would complete her childhood immunizations — delayed because of her compromised immune system — in time to start school in September.
Although it will be a couple of years before she can consider the leukemia cured, her doctors think the disease has been eliminated, and Seong-Mi said her daughter's growing strength makes her confident.
The family has been trying to contact Sara's donor, without luck, Seong-Mi said.
"We know she's female, and we think she is around 30 years old," she said. "We do know she's not from the U.S. We're guessing Hong Kong or Taiwan — somewhere in Asia."
The family is extremely grateful to the woman and wants to express their thanks. But they also know they owe thanks to many others, too, Seong-Mi said.
"We know there were a lot of blood drives done here for Sara's sake," she said. "We really appreciate all that positive energy coming from Hawai'i."
It is a gift that doesn't stop there, said Roy Yonashiro, donor recruitment coordinator for the Hawaii Bone Marrow Donor Registry at St. Francis Medical Center.
Donor information such as the "pin-prick" blood samples are kept on file in the state and national registries for comparison later with other hopeful recipients.
"You never know who's life you are going to save," Yonashiro said.
To be tested for a bone marrow donation, contact the Registry at 547-6154.
Reach Karen Blakeman at 535-2430 or kblakeman@honoluluadvertiser.com.
