Miguel began to lose hope when his daughter was diagnosed with leukemia. The Icla da Silva Foundation offered to help his family through our Icla Cares program. Watch Miguel share his heartfelt perspective in the video below.
Miguel’s Dilemma
We were first introduced to Miguel and his family through a social worker. His 5-year-old daughter Marieangel had just been diagnosed with leukemia. Like most parents of a child diagnosed with blood cancer, Miguel was lost and confused.
He didn’t know what to do.
We sat down with Miguel to answer all of his questions and explain the process. We reviewed the next steps in plain language. We let him know what to expect and how we could help.
Marieangle received months of chemo treatment and her leukemia went into remission.
Unfortunately, during Covid-19, her leukemia relapsed. At the same time, Miguel lost his construction job.
What is a hardworking family supposed to do? How will they continue to pay the bills while their young daughter is in treatment and waiting for a bone marrow transplant?
How Icla Restored Hope
Miguel began to lose hope. He had nowhere else to turn. The Icla da Silva Foundation offered to help his family. We assured him that we would be there for support throughout his daughter’s treatment.
While financial assistance removes the constant stress of how to pay the bills, providing information and support to Miguel was more important to him. We gave him knowledge and helped him understand. By providing emotional support, he felt more encouraged. He knew that we were here for him, and he recognized the valuable role he played in his daughter’s treatment.
As a result, he regained hope. Miguel rejoined the fight for his daughter’s survival.
Miguel explains his change in perspective after learning about his daughter’s leukemia.
Support Icla Cares
You can help us assist more patient families like Miguel. With your financial donation, we provide emotional, logistical, and financial support to patients suffering from blood cancers and sickle cell disease. These needs are critical.
Please consider making a financial gift and supporting our lifesaving mission.
More than 25 years ago, Rhynett Chatman was diagnosed with cancer. She fought that battle and was fortunate to survive.
Now she is fighting cancer once again.
In May of 2017, she was diagnosed with Myelodysplastic Syndrome (MDS). MDS is a form of blood cancer which prohibits the body from producing enough healthy blood cells in the bone marrow.
Rhynett told us that she always felt tired, and she lost a considerable amount of weight. Despite chemotherapy and numerous blood transfusions, there was no improvement in her condition.
Most Recent Diagnosis
Recently, her diagnosis was changed to Acute Myeloid Leukemia (AML). There was a definitive overproduction of immature blood cells in her bone marrow. AML quickly gets worse if it is not treated immediately.
Doctors advised Rhynett that she would need a bone marrow transplant in order to survive.
Searching for a Match
For African American patients with various blood cancers like leukemia, finding a matching bone marrow donor is a difficult task. The chances of finding a match on the national registry are only 23%. There simply aren’t enough Black donors on the registry. For comparison, White patients have a 77% chance of finding a matching donor on the registry.
We are trying to change this unfortunate fact.
The Icla da Silva Foundation is the largest recruitment center for the Be the Match registry. Our efforts are focused specifically on adding more diversity to the list of potential donors.
We are trying to help Rhynett find a matching donor by holding donor drives. We share her story, explain the need, and provide details on joining the registry and donating stem cells if you match a patient in need.
Anyone between the ages of 18-40 can join the registry at no cost. If you match a patient, they don’t even use your insurance to perform the transplant. Be the Match takes care of everything.
To join the registry in support of Rhynett, please click this link:
Unfortunately, there is no matching donor in her family. And there is no match for her on the national registry.
Not yet.
We are doing everything we can to share her story and enable more people to join the registry on her behalf.
Rhynett tells us that her body hurts. “I get tired easily. I have been receiving blood transfusions for months now…it’s all very overwhelming, but God is in control”.
She is grateful for the support of her friends and family. She is also thankful for her church family at the Northside Church of Christ in Jacksonville, Florida. She has been worshipping at Northside since she was 14 years old.
She Has Faith
Despite her battle with this life-threatening disease, Rhynett has faith that God will provide.
She enjoys reading, traveling, and singing. She has traveled and sung extensively, trying to be an encouragement and a blessing to the Brotherhood of her church. She loves singing and spreading the “Good News” through the gift that God has blessed her with.
Rhynett sang for many years with her church group Total Praise, as well as the Northside Acappella Mass Choir.
“Singing has always been the thing that kept me motivated and content. I miss it so much.”
Unfortunately, chemotherapy has affected her vocal cords.
Join the Registry
Please help us in Rhynett’s search to find a matching bone marrow donor. Join the registry. After clicking the link, follow the prompts to create an account and register to become a potential donor.
You can also help us spread the word by sharing Rhynett’s story.
“I know if you can help in any way, you will. May God bless each of you for your kind hearts and loving spirits.”
-Rhynett Chapman
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Renata Has Faith
Renata Coimbra is full of life. She is always smiling and spreads joy wherever she goes. She is very close with her family and friends, she worries about those less fortunate, and she regularly contributes to her church and her community. She is recently married, a positive role model, and faithfully leads others in prayer.
Renata was recently diagnosed with leukemia and is in desperate need of a bone marrow donor. She has begun an aggressive treatment of chemotherapy and she knows that she has a long and difficult path ahead, but she has faith that she will find a matching donor.
In 2001, she moved from Espirito Santo in southern Brazil, to Boston, Massachusetts, where she worked as a house manager and loving nanny for 13 years. Missing the tropical climate of her childhood, Renata moved to Florida in 2014, where she met and married her love, Danilo. Together, they enjoy music and movies, regularly attend church, and spend time with Danilo’s family, who has accepted her as their own.
Late last year, Renata was suffering from shortness of breath. After multiple visits with doctors and specialists, she was unexpectedly diagnosed with a lymphoma that had formed in her chest and attacked the bone marrow. It quickly developed into leukemia. She has been told that even with chemo treatments to fight the cancer in her blood, a bone marrow transplant will be necessary to ensure her survival. After multiple treatments and two hospitalizations in the short timespan since she has been diagnosed, she has been forced to quit her job and live a remarkably different lifestyle.
Before she got sick, Renata and Danilo enjoyed dancing and going to the beach on weekends. Although she misses work and her Zumba class, she has never lost faith that she will overcome this disease.
Renata’s faith is overwhelming. Early in the search, they found three matching donors. Unfortunately, none of them were ready to make the commitment to donate. Renata insists that she has the support of God, friends and family, and a matching donor will come through.
While we certainly hope that everyone who registers is able to stay committed if they ever receive the call, it is important to recognize that the vast majority of bone marrow patients require a non-surgical process called peripheral blood stem cell donation (PBSC).
A PBSC bone marrow transplant requires a donor to take injections of filgrastim over the course of 5 days, which increases the number of blood forming cells in your blood stream. On the day of donation, your blood is removed through a needle in one arm, passed into a machine that separates the blood forming cells that your body has produced, and then your blood is returned back into your body through the other arm.
The process is relatively simple.
Please consider registering to become a potential bone marrow donor for Renata and the many other patients who are looking for a match.
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We were first introduced to Miguel and his family through a social worker. His 5-year-old daughter Marieangel had just been diagnosed with leukemia. Like most parents of a child diagnosed with blood cancer, Miguel was lost and confused.
More than 25 years ago, Rhynett Chatman was diagnosed with cancer. She fought that battle and was fortunate to survive.
Rhynett sang for many years with her church group Total Praise, as well as the Northside Acappella Mass Choir.
