Search for bone marrow match for Stuart Little continues

Stuart Little There is a tone of desperation in the voice of Barbara Little as she discusses her son’s need for bone marrow donors. She has been talking to the people at the National Registry for Bone Marrow Donors and has been told that there is not enough money to do the testing that was scheduled for the huge Lakewood Church in Houston. Each test cost $55.00 and Barbara realizes that few, if any, individuals would pay to be tested to see if they were a match for her son, Stuart.

Stuart Little is a 28 year old Jewett native who graduated from Leon High School in 1999. He served our country in the U.S. Navy for six years and fought in several conflicts with his last tour being Operation Enduring Freedom.

In 2008 Little was diagnosed with Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia and immediately went into an aggressive series of chemo therapy treatments. The treatments are completed and Stuart is attempting to get his life back to normal, however, his only hope for a full recovery is to have a bone marrow transplant. He will continue with follow up treatments once a month until he can find a marrow donor.

The test to determine a match for bone marrow is simply a mouth swab to check for a match and those who have been tested are added to the National Registry for Bone Marrow Donors on a daily basis. Thousands of people are waiting daily to see if a match has been found that will save their lives.

Barbara checks the Registry every day to see if there a match. She spends much of her time setting up locations to take the samples. On Sunday, July 26, testing will be done at the Jewett Community Center from 8:00 to 4:00.