Pflugerville Officer Pleads For Daughter's Bone Marrow Match

PFLUGERVILLE, TEXAS — Guided by a mission for public service to "protect and serve" members of his community, Pflugerville Police Sgt. Kirk Anderson now needs assistance from members of the public with personal life-or-death urgency.

The officer's 9-year-old daughter, Camryn Anderson, was recently diagnosed with a rare condition jeopardizing her young life unless a bone marrow donor is found soon. He and his wife, Kimberly, said their daughter's recent health issues made their presence known with frequent nosebleeds and bruising on her body that wouldn't go away.

Then came the dreaded diagnosis: Aplastic anemia. It's a rare medical condition that occurs when the body fails to produce a sufficient number of blood cells. The deficiency of all types of blood cells is caused by failure of bone marrow development.

Once the diagnosis was confirmed, the doctor's advice took urgent tones, as the young girl's mom told Spectrum News Austin: "All I remember him saying is 'I'm on my way to get Camryn,' " the worried mom said, referencing a call from her husband after speaking to the doctor. " 'We have to be at the oncologist in two hours. She is not safe at school.' "

Officer Anderson states the family's hope succinctly: "The only hope for her is that we find a match, a bone marrow match," he told the news station.

Without a bone marrow match, Camryn may only have about a year to live, her parents said. As the family waits for a suitable donor to emerge, the young patient is forced to stay at home as even a common cold could prove disastrous to her health, they said.

The worried parents are now hoping for nothing short of a miracle. Only 2 percent of the U.S. population is registered in the national bone marrow registry. Camryn's brother was found not to be a match on Thursday, dashing the family's hopes for a donor. Their only hope now is to find a match through the bone marrow registry to which more than 2,000 have signed up after news of Camryn's plight surfaced.

Like many officers pursuing a career in law enforcement, Officer Anderson has undoubtedly performed heroically in the course of his work. Now, it's up to members of the community to act heroically, and check to see if they might be a bone marrow match for Camryn.

To find out more information on how to sign up in the bone marrow registry, click here. A barbecue benefit has been scheduled on Saturday, Sept. 15, to help raise funds to defray Camryn's medical bills. It's scheduled from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the Pfield, 1440 W. Pecan St. Tickets are $10.

More information is available on the Facebook page Camryn’s Relentless Battle. Food tickets are available at Eventbrite https://tinyurl.com/y8t54flp.

Area merchants have stepped up to help the family. The Menchie's frozen yogurt store at 2324 Farm to Market 685 #200, will donate 20 percent of its proceeds from noon to 3 p.m. on Sept. 22 to benefit the family. The Rio Grande Tex Mex restaurant, 15821 Central Commerce Dr., also has offered to donate some of its proceeds to the cause on Monday, Sept. 10.

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