Muskego boy’s bone marrow Transplant Sparks Toy Drive For children In Treatment
USA: Six-year-old Zander Machajewski of Muskego, Waukesha County, has moved from a life-or-death childhood emergency to life-giving generosity after a successful bone marrow transplant. In August 2023, when he was four, Zander fell into septic shock and required ten days on life support and ECMO. Physicians determined a bone marrow transplantation would be his best chance for recovery, and he spent weeks in the MACC Fund unit at the children’s hospital while awaiting the procedure.
The transplant came from Zander’s oldest brother and ultimately proved successful, ending a period of acute medical crisis and extended hospitalization. Family members recall bleak days when he lay lifeless on the ventilator, and the sibling donation transformed that trajectory, allowing the young patient to leave the critical phase of care behind and begin the slow work of healing in a supportive hospital environment.
Now healthy and active, Zander has reclaimed the simple pursuits of childhood: baseball, football and attempts at basketball with his older brother. The experience of being in the hospital left a lasting imprint, and he has chosen to pay forward the kindness his family received. He assembled an Amazon wish list filled with the toys that comforted him during treatment and has organized a drive to collect those items for other children who will be in the hospital over the holidays.
Zander and his family are collecting donations through December 19 with plans to deliver the toys the week of Christmas so kids still receiving treatment will have playthings during their stays. The community’s support during his illness inspired the effort, and the initiative aims to offer small comforts to young patients in the same hospital unit where he recovered after his life-saving bone marrow transplantation.
