www.alex-beatingcancer.blogspot.com
Follow my blog here about my story.
Join us to find a cure for blood cancers and to honor my sister through the Marissa-Eve Ayala Research Grant Fund.
At age 16, I was diagnosed with leukemia and a bone marrow transplant was given as her only option for survival. Since no bone marrow donor match was available, my parents, then in their 40s, chose to conceive a child in hopes that he or she would be a matching donor.
You may remember this Time Magazine cover story from June 17, 1991 (left). Born in 1991, my baby sister Marissa-Eve was indeed a match. At 14 months old, Marissa-Eve provided me with a life-saving bone marrow donation.
I have been cancer-free since that life-changing bone-marrow transplant 17 years ago. Marissa-Eve was unharmed by the procedure and is today a healthy 18-year-old; she and I are the best of friends.
Today, I work as the Business Development Director for the Orange County/Inland Empire Chapter of the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society, having dedicated my career to fighting blood cancers and helping those in similar situations to hers.
Once again Marissa-Eve is by my side, this time as a young adult who can use her voice and her story to help those in need.
ABC-TV "Good Morning America" ON-AIR ANNOUNCEMENT
WATCH THE VIDEO on the ABC-TV "Good Morning America" website from the appearance of Anissa and Marissa-Eve in announcing this new funding initiative.
Having One Child to Save Another
Marissa Ayala Knows Better Than Most About Having a Purpose in Life