Dung family photo
A recent photo of Alana Dung bears testament to a
happy little girl, who her parents say was "feisty to the end."
The Dungs now want to help other children
afflicted with leukemia.

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Family sets up fund
in Alana Dung’s name

‘We should help others because they
helped us,’ the tot's father says

By Helen Altonn
Star-Bulletin

Alana Dung's family, grieving over the child's death from a rare form of leukemia, wants to help prevent the loss of other children to the disease.

They have established an Alana Dung Medical Research Fund, administered by the First Hawaiian Bank's Trust Department.

Honoring Alana's "courageous spirit," the bank kicked off the fund with a $1,000 contribution through its First Hawaiian Foundation charity.

Although Alana's "journey has come to an end," many others "are still traveling on the road," Stephen Dung, father of the 3-year-old child, said yesterday.

While the family focused on Alana in a campaign last year for a matching bone marrow donor, there is a "bigger picture out there to be seen," Dung said.

"We should help others because they helped us," he said.

The campaign nearly tripled the number of people on the Hawaii Bone Marrow Donor Registry, making it the largest in the nation based on percentage, said Dr. Alvin Chung, Alana's uncle.

The family's hope for a miracle more than a year ago came true because they were given additional time to enjoy Alana, and response to her plight has given others a chance at life, Chung said.

"This little girl made a difference in the world," he said.

Alana received a bone marrow transplant July 17, 1996, at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center in Seattle. The marrow was from an anonymous donor in Taiwan, recruited through the Tzu-Chi Foundation's Bone Marrow Registry.

Dung said when he and his wife, Adelia, were in Seattle for Alana's transplant, they realized research was the key to preventing and curing leukemia.

But the fund in Alana's name won't be limited to fighting that disease, Chung pointed out. He said the family just wants to help children.

Dung and Chung displayed recent photos of Alana showing a wide-eyed, smiling, happy pixie.

That's the way she was until she died peacefully in her Nuuanu home at 12:45 p.m. Tuesday, they said.

Dung said she had suffered a relapse but the family still had hope. The Seattle research center said Alana's blood work was good and a bone marrow aspiration was done on Tuesday last week, he said.

Two doctors were to arrive today from Seattle to see how Alana was doing physically, he said.

If Alana was failing, it didn't show, Dung said, describing her as "feisty to the end."

Cousins visiting her Monday night wanted to feed her, and she told them, "Alana feed herself," he said. She also fought with them over candy. "We had to scold her," her father said.

Tuesday morning she wanted to watch videos but fell back to sleep, he said.

"It was a normal day. It caught us by surprise," he added, describing a "total change" from 8:30 to 9:30 a.m.

He said Alana was unresponsive when she awoke but "waited for everyone to come home" before she died. Her 6-year-old brother, Spencer, was among those present.

Chung said her peaceful death helped the family, "knowing she was not in pain." So, even though the family is hurting, "it is an upbeat thing. ... She isn't hurting any more," he said.

First Hawaiian "is proud to honor her heroic efforts" with its donation to the research fund, said bank Vice Chairwoman Lily K. Yao, head of the First Hawaiian Foundation.

Checks made out to the Alana Dung Medical Research Fund can be sent to any First Hawaiian Bank branch, or mailed to the bank at P.O. Box 3200, Honolulu 96847. The fund's account number is 01-933337.