Drive to aid ailing child actress
Source: Agencies |
July 25, 2010, Sunday
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Print Edition
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THE cast and crew of "The Lion King" is trying to save the life of one of its own.
Eleven-year-old actress Shannon Tavarez was forced to quit the Broadway show in April after she was diagnosed with leukemia. Her physician, Dr Larry Wolfe, said Tavarez needs a bone marrow transplant, but has been unable to find the perfect match. A partial match has been found, but a better one is being sought.
More than 700 people showed up to a bone marrow donor registration on Friday at the Minskoff Theater in New York, where the show is performed, and hundreds more signed up online. Members of the cast and crew helped the potential donors swab the inside of their cheeks to see if their tissue type matched Tavarez' or anyone else needing a transplant.
Katharina Harf, co-founder of the bone marrow registry DKMS, said it was particularly difficult to find a perfect match for Tavarez because her mother is African-American and her father is Hispanic. For bone marrow transplants, minorities and those of mixed ancestry have a more difficult time finding good matches.
"It's very hard to find donors that are mixed race," said Harf, who helped organize the drive. "You're looking for a genetic twin. It's like finding the needle in a haystack."
Tavarez has already undergone chemotherapy, which has taken her long, curly brown hair. She beat out hundreds of other hopefuls last year to earn her spot playing Young Nala, the girlfriend of the main "Lion King" character, Simba. She split the role with another girl, performing four shows a week for six months.
Eleven-year-old actress Shannon Tavarez was forced to quit the Broadway show in April after she was diagnosed with leukemia. Her physician, Dr Larry Wolfe, said Tavarez needs a bone marrow transplant, but has been unable to find the perfect match. A partial match has been found, but a better one is being sought.
More than 700 people showed up to a bone marrow donor registration on Friday at the Minskoff Theater in New York, where the show is performed, and hundreds more signed up online. Members of the cast and crew helped the potential donors swab the inside of their cheeks to see if their tissue type matched Tavarez' or anyone else needing a transplant.
Katharina Harf, co-founder of the bone marrow registry DKMS, said it was particularly difficult to find a perfect match for Tavarez because her mother is African-American and her father is Hispanic. For bone marrow transplants, minorities and those of mixed ancestry have a more difficult time finding good matches.
"It's very hard to find donors that are mixed race," said Harf, who helped organize the drive. "You're looking for a genetic twin. It's like finding the needle in a haystack."
Tavarez has already undergone chemotherapy, which has taken her long, curly brown hair. She beat out hundreds of other hopefuls last year to earn her spot playing Young Nala, the girlfriend of the main "Lion King" character, Simba. She split the role with another girl, performing four shows a week for six months.
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