Archie McNealy was born in the Overtown projects in Miami, FL. He lost both of his parents as a young boy and was raised by his grandmother, who herself had many health issues. Archie attended a variety of public schools in the Liberty City and Overtown areas of Miami,  where he excelled scholastically, but lacked the opportunity to get the education he required to realize his potential.

After being selected to participate in the Summerbridge program, an intensive summer program on the RE campus geared toward high performing students from undeserved areas, Archie was offered a place at Ransom Everglades School.

At RE, Archie was a solid student, athlete, and became one of the most well-liked  students on campus. He made lifelong friends and plans that included going to college and starting his professional life. That life was put on hold when he was diagnosed with cancer.

Archie was diagnosed with Hodgkin’s Lymphoma in July of 2004. For the past nine years Archie has endured consistent chemotherapy, radiation, experimental drug treatments, and failed surgical procedures. On December 4th, 2012, Archie was a week away from undergoing a last resort, high-risk umbilical-cord transplant. A routine blood test revealed that he could not get the transplant because he now has Acute Myeloid Leukemia in addition to Lymphoma. As he continues to receive treatment we hope and pray that he will be able to get a transplant with a perfectly matched adult donor. In addition to fighting Leukemia and Hodgkin’s Lymphoma he is also advocating for others by asking more people to register as donors.

“I just want to make sure that nobody around me feels sad for me or hurts. I will be fine. I am at peace with my life, and just want to take the time to make it count. I want to LIVE my life” – Archie McNealy

 SupportArchie.com

From  http://www.kevinandlateefah.com/

In 2012, life was good for Kevin Weston and Lateefah Simon. Deeply in love, the young couple was raising their beautiful daughters Lelah, 1 and Aminah, 16. Kevin, a long time Bay Area journalist, Kevin had just been admitted to the prestigious John S. Knight journalism fellowship at Stanford University. Lateefah, a nationally recognized civil rights leader, had started a job as a Program Director at the Rosenberg Foundation and in the spring was to start the SEERS Fellowship program for social entrepreneurs at Stanford University.

Then, in an instant, everything changed. Now, Kevin and Lateefah urgently need your help.

On August 27, 2012, three days before his 44th birthday, Kevin woke up with a sore throat.

At Lateefah’s insistence, he went to Kaiser Hospital in Santa Clara. He was admitted into the ICU, and diagnosed with a deadly flesh eating bacteria – and a rare form of leukemia. Known as T-cell Prolymphocytic Leukemia (T-PLL), the cancer is very rare and aggressive, with only 10 cases per year in the United States. It primarily affects adults over the age of 30.

Doctors told Lateefah that she should gather his loved ones to see him. It might be their last chance to do so, they said. People came in droves from far and wide, organized fundraisers and food deliveries, shared their grief on social media, held prayer circles, stood vigil outside the ICU and hoped for a miracle.

On August 28th, Kevin underwent the first of 5 emergency surgeries to clear the life-threatening bacterial infection.

On Saturday, September 1st, Kevin opened his eyes and told Lateefah that he was ready to get married. And so they did, surrounded by more than 30 friends and family members crowded around his bedside. In photos of that day, Kevin is in a white hospital gown, eyes closed. His face is swollen from the surgeries and raging infection; there are tubes and monitors attached everywhere. “For better or for worse, in sickness and health”, Lateefah vowed. Too weak to speak, Kevin could barely nod his head but he squeezed Lateefah’s hand.

And then – a miracle occurred – Kevin continued to recover. On September 24th, almost a month after first going to the hospital with a sore throat, Kevin walked out of the hospital with Lateefah, Lelah and Aminah by his side.

But Kevin and Lateefah’s story is not over. Today, Kevin continues to undergo chemotherapy and has endured multiple hospitalizations. In order to truly have a chance at life and living, he needs to find a bone marrow donor by the end of February of this year.

Unfortunately, right now, the odds of Kevin finding a match are slim. Only about 7 or 8% of the nation’s 10 million registered potential bone-marrow donors are black. Help save Lelah’s Daddy. Help Kevin and Lateefah change the odds for their family by helping to increase the number of African Americans registered to be bone marrow donors.

Jaden Hilton (2003-2007)

3yr old Jaden of New Jersey needed a marrow transplant to survive Leukemia. Unfortunately, his brother was not a match for him. Due to the lack of donors within the bone marrow donor pool, Jaden lost his battle to leukemia on January 29, 2007. His father Rodney joined forces with Shana and Brett Melius who formed Preserve Our Legacy, INCon a mission to pass Jaden’s Law, so that other fathers will not have to go through the same.

PreserveOurLegacy.org

Eunique M. Darby, 15, of Syracuse NY passed away November 2008. After battling Leukemia for years she finally found a match but her transplant was canceled due to complications with the donor. Another match was found 4 months later but sadly she passed away a few months after transplant. 

Edward Swain, 19 died two days before Eunique in the same hospital. Both teens had been waiting for a match and together helped raise awareness in the Syracuse area for the need to register African Americans. Edward also finally found a match, but sadly it was too late for him as well. Although a transplant is never a guaranteed cure, the longer a patient is on the waiting list the lower the chance of survival once they receive the transplant. That’s why its imperative to have matches for everyone before hand 

LaMonica Molette was 21yrs old and diagnosed with Leukemia (AML). Her Brother was a match but was murdered the day before her transplant. She had no match on the marrow registry and passed away. Her dying wish was to keep drives going for other people to possibly find matches that her church has held annually since. Watch her touching video here…

Pastor Royal preacher of a Dallas, Texas Baptist Church fought a long hard battle against Leukemia. I (Akiim DeShay) first became involved with the movement at a drive for Pastor Royal. A year later he was still searching for a donor. There was another drive scheduled in his name, but unfortunately he passed away days before the drive and after two years of searching for a match.

]]> http://blackbonemarrow.com/also-in-memory-of/feed/ 0 http://blackbonemarrow.com/rip-parish-grimes/ http://blackbonemarrow.com/rip-parish-grimes/#comments Thu, 17 Jan 2013 00:53:23 +0000 Akiim DeShay http://blackinhouston.com/?p=245 Parish Grimes (1963 ~ 2006)

Parish was diagnosed with multiple myeloma in 2004. She needed a transplant but was told she had no match. Determined to fight, she organized three bone marrow drives and registered at least 250 African Americans. 

Sadly a match was never found for her and she passed away at age 42 March 27, 2006 leaving behind her husband and three young children. Read more about Parish Grimes…

]]> http://blackbonemarrow.com/rip-parish-grimes/feed/ 0 http://blackbonemarrow.com/rip-desha-woods/ http://blackbonemarrow.com/rip-desha-woods/#comments Thu, 17 Jan 2013 00:50:05 +0000 Akiim DeShay http://blackinhouston.com/?p=240 De’Sha Woods, a teenager from Cottage Hills, Illinois was diagnosed with Acute Myeloid Leukemia.  De’Sha enjoyed a brief time in remission after rounds of Chemotherapy and radiation but the cancer returned. The first potential donor was a perfect match. However, when it was time to give the bone marrow, the donor declined.

 As heart-breaking as it was to find a match then lose it, De’Sha was blessed with a second donor. She eventually received a transplant from a second match who was not perfect, but considered a close match (five out of six). Perfectly matched transplants have a higher prognosis and fewer expected complications.

De’Sha was active in encouraging people to register for the registry. In 2008 she was one of the faces for the National Marrow Donor Registry as a national poster model for the NMDP ‘Be the One’ and the ‘Thanks Mom!’ campaigns. Sadly due to a complication from her transplant called GVHD she passed away on Labor Day 2009.

Jasmina Anema – A Miracle and a Savior

 6yr old Jasmina of New York City was diagnosed with a rare and aggressive form of leukemia on January 20th, 2009. Her doctors immediately determined her only chance for survival is a bone marrow transplant but she did not have a match. Because of great media attention, more than 10,000 African Americans joined the marrow registry through DKMSamericas.org and two matches were found in a matter of months. She had her transplant on June 11th and is currently in recovery. oneforjasmina.com

UPDATE: Sad news, Jasmina passed away on January 27th, 2010. There is more to this story and I promise to elaborate soon.

Joseph Grimsley

A match was never found and on August 19, 2007, Joseph lost his battle with cancer. Even though a donor match was not found for him, Joseph asked them to continue the mission after he was gone to raise awareness, educate and encourage minorities to join the Marrow Registry. They started the Faith Hope And Determination, Inc, a non-profit organization, was formed on August 1, 2008, in memory of Joseph

Dexter Randolph

Dexter was a 44-year old native Houstonian.  This father of three and grandfather of two, was a diagnosed with Lymphoma. He had been a patient at M. D. Anderson, who was in immediate need of a marrow stem cell transplant.  Dexter did not have a fully compatible sibling match, therefore his best chance of finding a match was through the Be The Match Registry. Sadly Dexter passed away in November, 2010 the same month as Shannon.