USA: A three-year-old named Curi from Salt Lake City faces a life-threatening battle against a rare and aggressive brain disease known as cerebral adrenoleukodystrophy (CALD). This devastating condition was diagnosed at birth and has been progressing swiftly, prompting desperate efforts for a life-saving bone marrow transplant. The only hope for Curi lies in finding a suitable match, but so far, every test has come up empty.
Efforts to secure this vital transplant have stretched across several states, including Utah, California, New York, Arizona, and Nevada, where countless individuals have stepped forward to volunteer and be tested. Family members, particularly Curi’s aunt, are leveraging social media to mobilize support, amplifying their cry for help to locate potential donors. The global bone marrow transplant database boasts 39 million individuals, yet Curi has yet to find a matching donor, intensifying the urgency of the situation.
The potential solution could be a bone marrow transplant combined with stem cell therapy, a pathway that offers hope but carries significant challenges. If unsuccessful, the family is left with the grim option of undergoing costly and intricate gene therapy, further complicating Curi’s fight against this ruthless disease.
Community members are being urged to join the quest for a match by visiting hopefori.org, particularly targeting individuals aged 18 to 40 of Italian or Cambodian descent, aligning with Curi’s ancestry. This simple act of a cheek swab could be the key to unlocking a second chance at life for Curi, whose story has already touched countless hearts and ignited a collective effort toward finding hope amidst adversity.
