She begged strangers, but no donors stepped up to save her son. Now, she hopes to save other children’s lives — and maybe her own
CHICAGO -- When Andrea Whitsett’s son Patrick was sick, she pleaded with strangers to save his life.
She pleaded at folding tables set up at events, at his Chicago school, anywhere she could tell people about stem cells and how her son needed them.
His leukemia had returned. The doctors had done what they could and her only option, they told her, was to ask strangers to swab their cheeks in hopes they were a match for her son. If they could find a donor, they could try a bone-marrow transplant, a procedure also called a stem cell transplant.
“They tell you, I’ve done all I can do with the medicine,” Whitsett recalled. “This is the only thing we can do to try and help keep him here on earth.”
Despite countless drives and asking anyone who would listen, no match was found. Her
