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Girl dies before
getting bone marrow


By Helen Altonn
haltonn@starbulletin.com

A 5-year-old child whose life 3,409 people on Guam hoped to save with a bone marrow transplant died Sunday night in a California hospital.

The Hawaii Bone Marrow Donor Registry conducted a donor drive on Guam Feb. 1-3 in search of a match for Justice Josephine Taitague.

She was at Loma Linda University Children's Hospital undergoing constant blood transfusions for T-cell, non-Hodgkin's lymphoma. Doctors said she had only a few months to live without a transplant and a 40 percent chance of living with one.

Blood samples from the Guam donors were sent early last week to the National Marrow Donor Registry in Minneapolis for analysis. Justice was given priority for a match.

Guam's thousands of potential bone marrow donors significantly boosted the few number of Pacific islanders on the national registry.

Dr. Randal Wada, medical director of the Hawaii Registry, sent a message of condolences to Guam on behalf of the staff, including donor recruitment coordinator Roy Yonashiro, Jan Nagahiro, Rosey Vera Cruz and Renee Adaniya.

"Your outpouring of support for her moved us deeply, and we are forever grateful to have borne witness to your many kindnesses," Wada said. "The thousands of you who joined the National Marrow Donor Program out of loving concern for Justice represent seeds of hope that, with continued commitment, will grow to blossom and brighten the path for future generations of cancer patients."



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