Crystal Lake Girl With Rare Disease in Need of Bone Marrow Match

A 6-year-old Crystal Lake girl is in need of a bone marrow match.

Sophia has been diagnosed with aplastic anemia, which is a deficiency of all types of blood cells caused by failure of bone marrow development. It’s a condition that affects about 2 out of a million people.

Sophia has low white blood cells and is at an increased risk of infection, according to a video posted on YouTube by her mother, Michelle Sambo. For that reason, the young girl who loves ballet had to stop taking classes.

She also has low platelets, which means she bruises very easily and her blood does not clot. She is currently taking medication twice a day that could cause kidney failure. Due to her lowered immune system, Sophia has missed months of school.

A bone marrow transplant is the only cure, according to Sambo, and Sophia currently does not have a match.

“(Some) people think it’s not serious because it has ’anemia’ in the name of the illness and it’s not classified as ’cancer,’ but it’s a long hard road,” Michelle Sambo told Patch.

Those interested in helping the local family during this difficult battle can visit this GoFundMe page to make a donation, which will help cover medical expenses for Sophia. BeTheMatch.org, a website dedicated to matching donors with patients, has set up a page especially for Sophia and those interested in checking to see if they might be a bone marrow match.