Juan Uribe shared an update on his search for a a stem cell donor match for his son, Max
Credit: Juan Uribe and the Uribe family
NEED TO KNOW
- Juan Uribe is urgently seeking a stem cell donor for his 15-year-old son, Max, who has a rare blood disorder
- Max’s heritage makes finding a perfect match especially difficult due to limited donor diversity
- Uribe launched swabformax.com to recruit one million new donors within days to save his son’s life
Juan Uribe says he is "running out of time" to get help for his son, Max. The father of two made a TikTok on March 17 detailing the challenges he and his family are facing.
"The clock is ticking. Time is running out. We really only have about 16 days to find that match and get people swabbed so we can help Max. As part of this effort, I'm now launching a new website called swabformax.com," he said in the clip.
"For those that aren't familiar with the story, my son, 15-year-old Max, has a rare blood disorder that is not treated with a stem cell transplant, and in the next couple of months, he is going to develop into MDS or AML. Those are very rare forms of blood cancer in kids, and as a result, they are very, very deadly," Uribe shares.
@jpu307
Time is running out, we only have 16 days to find the perfect match for my 15 year old son, Max. We need your help! Please register at swabformax.com. Link is also in my bio. #teammax #Latinocommunity #savealife
♬ original sound – Juan Uribe
Uribe says that they need to find Max a "perfect match" to "maximize his five-year survival rate and try and get it up to 95%."
"It's still not 100%, but as a dad, I need to do everything I can to maximize his survival and also minimize the complications associated with the procedure and also minimize the toxicity of drugs that we give him, so that we don't end up with surprises later on down the road," Uribe shares in his video.
He goes on to say, "Finding that match is hard."
"It's hard because of his genetic makeup, half Caucasian, half Latino, and because of the different potential permutations of something called HLA type, we literally need about a million people added to the donor registry if we're going to have any chance of finding that perfect match. We need a million. We are very, very far from a million. We have less than 100,000 so far, and we have 16 days to try to reach a million. But I think we can do it," Uribe shares.
Credit: Juan Uribe and the Uribe family
Finding a perfect match has been especially hard for Max because of his genetic makeup. The NMDP registry, the world's most diverse registry, reports that 13% of its members identify as Hispanic.
According to the NMDP, for multiracial patients like Max — who is 50% Colombian — and other ethnicities, finding a fully matched donor becomes even more challenging. For Latino patients, the chance of finding a fully matched, available donor is less than 50%, even without the challenge of an accelerated timeline.
When talking to PEOPLE in February, Uribe shares that he "realized this is also a public service that we need to provide because all Latinos should get typed and should be added to the registry because you can save countless lives, and through all of this realizing all of those things, realizing that we needed a lot of numbers because this is rare and we needed to really get out there."
In his most recent TikTok video, he notes that he now has over 100,000 followers. If each person who follows the account recruited 10 people between the ages of 18 and 35 to join the registry, they would hit the one million new donors needed for his son.
"The process, as a reminder for everyone, is super simple. It is costless, it's painless, and it's a two-step process. Step one is to go to swabformax.com and request a kit. It will be sent to your home. You fill out a simple registration form, you swab your cheeks, you return the kit, you have to return the kit, and then you're added to the registry," Uribe shares.
Credit: Juan Uribe and the Uribe family
He reiterates that about 1% of people would actually be called to donate, and the process is "painless, it is costless, and it is very simple."
"In 90% of the cases, it is similar to an extended blood draw where you sit in the chair. They take blood from one arm, harvest the stem cells, and return the blood to the other arm. It's the same day: in-and-out procedure. It's the easiest way you can save a life. It's a no-brainer, in my opinion."
He ends his video by saying, "I know that some people are tired."
"They've been doing a lot of things for others already, but please do this one act to help my son and help countless other patients like him. You will be very glad you did if you ever get that call and are asked to donate. So again, please go to swabformax.com. Time is of the essence. The clock is ticking. We are running out of time. We have 16 days left. Please help me. Help my son. Thank you."
At the time of publication, the April 1 deadline is now less than two weeks away.
Read the full article here
