Events held to find donor for Cook Children's doctor in need of blood stem cell transplant
FRISCO, Texas - There’s been a social media push and a network of communication throughout a hospital system in an urgent move to find a donor to help save the life of a doctor who has been dedicated to saving the lives of children for more than a decade.
"I feel like a lot of people have that servant’s heart and want to help any way they can, and this is a really easy way to do that," hospital staff member Pamela Billingsley said.
Cook Children’s Pediatrician Dr. Danny Kim was recently diagnosed with leukemia and he’s in urgent need of a blood stem cell transplant.
His colleagues and the public showed up to get swabbed in a parking lot screening event called, ‘Be the Match."
Dr. Kim is Korean, something hospital officials say has narrowed his donor pool. Thus far, a search has not yielded success.
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There is an urgent push to help save the life of a North Texas doctor who has spent more than a decade saving children. The Cook Children's pediatrician is now facing his own cancer diagnosis. FOX 4's Shannon Murray shared Dr. Danny Kim's story and details on an event happening Thursday to help.
"You have to be under the age of 40, so there’s a specific age range which limits the possibilities, and then with his heritage, that as well limits some of the possibilities we have, so we’re trying to expand the network of folks that could be an option for him," said Dr. Matthew Dzurik, president of Cook Children’s Physician’s Network.
An inspiring show of support came from the families of children who are patients at the hospital.
"When Cook says jump, my attitude is, how high?" Caroline Poe said.
Poe’s 7-year-old son lives with autism and other challenges. She heard about the effort to help Dr. Kim.
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"My attitude is that this hospital serves us so well that when we’re in the community called upon to serve the hospital, it’s a simple yes," Poe explained.
"Without the bone marrow transplant, there is a significant chance he may not do well. So at Cook Children’s, in the community, we wanted to open up that knowledge base and to everybody in the DFW community," Dr. Dzurik said. "I would say you don’t have to be a physician or medical provider to try and save a life here, whether it’s for Dr. Kim or somebody else."