Little Mackenzie Friedman, affectionately known as Mighty Mack, was diagnosed with Acute Myeloid Leukaemia (AML) on Wednesday, 12th of May 2021

Mackenzie, fondly known as “Mighty Mack”, was diagnosed with AML on May 12 and had suffered no health complications before. An acute myeloid leukaemia (AML) diagnosis for four-month-old Mackenzie Friedman has not only seen her spend most of her life in hospital receiving chemotherapy, but has also seen her become influential on social media by raising awareness about the disease.

The Cancer Association of SA (Cansa) defines leukaemia as cancer of the white blood cells that help protect the body against infections. White cells repair and reproduce themselves but in leukaemia patients, the white blood cells don't mature, instead they divide themselves. The only way to treat Leukaemia is by doing a bone marrow transplant, however, until a match is found, Mighty Mack needs a continous supply of blood and platelet donations.

Mighty Mack needs her bone marrow transplant urgently and we are encourging YOU to register! The process is not as difficult or time consuming as you might think. No longer do you have to go for intrusive surgery to donate bone marrow.
The stem cells that are needed for a transplant may be obtained by a relatively simple procedure called peripheral blood stem cell collection or ‘harvests’. This is similar to the blood donation process but just takes a bit longer (4 to 6 hours).

There are currently 73,000 volunteers on the registry's database which is no where near enough for the country at large. It is incredibly hard to find a bone marrow match and we encourage you to not only register but also raise awareness about bone marrow donation as this is just as important in getting more people to register.

Here are the steps:

How to become a registered donor
REGISTER HERE NOW
https://www.dkms.org/register-now (The Sunflower Fund) or www.sabmr.co.za.

  • You will be notified if you qualify to be a donor by working through their lists.
  • No blood or needles involved, just a cheek swab.
  • Registering is free of charge.

Alternatively you can get your swabs registered at the below sites:

KZN Office based in Westville Durban:
97 Jan Hofmeyr Road
Dawncrest
Westville, 3630
Contact no: 031 266 1148

Western Cape Office based in Century City:
Block C, Grosvenor Square
Century Way
Century City
Cape Town ,7441
Contact no: 021 701 0661

Gauteng Office based in Randburg:
Shop U4C
Ferndale on Republic
Republic Road
Randburg, 2194
Contact no:
011 7814026

Hours: Monday to Friday – 10:00 am – 3:30 pm – people can sign up during these hours. This does also apply to people who have been trying to register online and have not yet received their swab kits.

PHOTO CREDITS: @mightymack21