RICHMOND (NEWS 1130) – A little boy is fighting for his life after being diagnosed with an aggressive form of leukemia. Genetic testing indicates he needs a bone marrow donor who shares some of his rare ethnic background.

The family got the news just over two weeks ago after they took six-year-old Joshua Weekes to the hospital with what they thought was the flu. His mother Lia says one minute they were in a Richmond emergency room waiting for blood tests, the next they were in an ambulance rushing to BC Children’s Hospital to meet an oncologist.

“He has been diagnosed with a rarer form of Leukemia, which is called Acute Myeloid Leukemia. He is in the higher risk spectrum and so that has led us to search for a bone marrow donor because we are heading toward transplant.”

Both parents are of mixed ethnicity, so for Joshua to find an appropriate match, somebody with either Filipino, English, Icelandic or West Indian ethnicity needs to come forward. “So we have set out to appeal to anybody and everybody to consider becoming a donor, especially if they share one of those heritages with Joshua.”

The family is hoping to move forward with the transplant within the next three months. “We need to first eradicate all of the cancer that is within his little body, and that will be two more rounds of chemo, we’ve already completed one. They are moving quite aggressively to match the cancer.”

She adds Joshua is also receiving blood and platelet transfusions daily. “If you have it please give. If you think in a situation like this you could be a match then please come forward because it would mean more to us than you will ever know.”

You can find a link to the registry here.