09 Jun 2014
Posted by Luke Galati 
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Can Facebook save lives?
Shari Nihei Fredrickson, the mother of a six-year-old from San Francisco, sure hopes so.
Before her son Baylor Fredrickson was diagnosed with Acute Myelogenous Leukemia, a rare form of the disease, he played on a little league baseball team playing back catcher.
His little league baseball coach happened to be best selling author and financial journalist, Michael Lewis who, through social media, is doing his part to help find Baylor a bone marrow donor.
“It’s actually pretty easy to see if you can save Baylor Fredrickson’s life,” he said.
Lewis, who has over 116,000 likes on his Facebook page, shared Baylor’s story with his followers hoping to spread awareness and a match by reaching out to people via social media. People are able to order kits from the Asian American Donor Program (AADP) and that way a match can be found.
Baylor’s in need of a perfect match, and that means the person will most likely be from someone who is half Asian and half Caucasian.
Baylor is half Japanese and half German.
If you're half Asian/half Caucasian, you might be a bone marrow match for six year old Baylor Fredrickson https://t.co/PDxSiO0z3q
— Jake Tapper (@jaketapper) June 3, 2014
Lewis was shocked when Baylor, a player, “loved by the team” didn’t show up on opening day.
Baylor’s mother reached out to Lewis for help who is now trying to find a match to help her son and advocating for people to sign up for the test, particularly those of half Asian half Caucasian descent to see if they are match.
He needs to find a bone marrow match within three months or he will die.
When social media is used for good! Can you help Baylor Fredrickson? #HelpBaylor https://t.co/BO53NxKwUn
— Fashion+Serendipity (@FashSerendipity) June 1, 2014
Joe Scafidi, who in March recently donated bone marrow for his brother John, said the procedure that used to be painful and difficult is, as he says, “not that way anymore.”
Scafidi said the medication they gave him preparing for the surgery made him feel like he had the flu, but the day when he gave the marrow took about six hours.
“For me it was a no brainer, hopefully it is for others who are a match for the young boy,” he said.
Doctors look for a donor who matches their patient’s tissue type, specifically their human leukocyte antigen (HLA) tissue type, according to the National Marrow Donor Program.
Trista Awtrey, posted a Facebook comment on Lewis’ post, saying, “I’m half Japanese and half-Caucasian and I graduated from Baylor University… maybe this testing will show that I can be the match. Fingers crossed!”
Baylor currently has a Facebook page, “A Match For Bay,” with over 5,000 likes.
So many ways you can help! Visit http://t.co/YauoikzqiK to find out what you can do.
— A match for Bay (@AmatchforBay) June 7, 2014
Vincent Pan, a man from San Fransisco commented on Baylor’s page trying to urge his friends and others to get a kit and see if they could be potential matches for Baylor or others with the disease.
Pan, also from San Francisco hopes someone can help Baylor like he did two years ago, when he was a match with a young 12-year-old girl named Vicky.
She’s now going to school, enjoying the beginning of her teenage years.
After Vicky had surgery, she wanted to meet the man who helped save her life.
“It was unique, I wasn’t sure what to make of it, but it was exciting to me that we had the chance to meet in person.”
The two get ice cream or visit a museum every few months to this date.
“For me, it was safe, easy and pain-free,” Pan said.
Every year, 12,000 people are in need of a marrow transplant, but only half will receive because no donor is found according to the AADP.
One Canadians donor can benefit more than 75 people and save up to eight lives.
Canadians can learn more about donating through the following links:
