Searching for the Perfect Match - Why Diversity Matters

Dak, a thriving four-year-old, from Dallas, Texas, who loves playing sports and spending time with his family and friends, was suddenly showing signs of extreme lethargy and a distinct change in behavior. At this point, his parents knew something was wrong. It came as a devastating shock to his family and friends when Dak was diagnosed with Acute Myeloid Leukemia (AML) earlier this year, a particularly aggressive form of leukemia, causing him to spend multiple weeks in the hospital.

“It was the toughest thing I had to deal with in my entire life," says his father, Adam Lopez, thinking back on his initial reaction to Dak’s diagnosis.

Dak’s treatment option was limited to a bone marrow or stem cell transplant, which made his road to recovery a particularly arduous one. A patient’s ethnic background is imperative in predicting the likelihood of finding an unrelated match. As a patient of Hispanic heritage, contending with a lack of diversity in the donor pool, Dak had only about a 46% chance of finding his perfect match, making his chances considerably more challenging.

In hopes to increase the probability of finding a lifesaving donor, DKMS and Dak's family hosted five drives (four in-person events, one virtual) registering over 650 potential lifesavers.

More ways to help

You can support DKMS in many ways and give hope to more blood cancer and blood disorder patients.

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