At first glance, Finneas Okochi is a typical four-and-a-half-year-old boy.

At birth Finn was diagnosed with Wiskott-Aldrich syndrome (WAS), a fatal hereditary immune system disorder that claimed the life of Finn’s uncle Mark in 1975 at the age of nine. Thanks to advances in bone marrow transplant techniques and the creation of the NMDP, a cure was now available for Finn.

The problem was not only that Finn needed a bone marrow match but that he also had to be old enough to survive the radiation and chemotherapy needed to prepare his body for the new bone marrow.

At first glance, Finneas Okochi is a typical four-and-a-half-year-old boy. He likes cars, playing hide and seek with his sister and riding on his new bike. He is full of laughter and loves to share his expertise in Star Wars with anyone in earshot. His charismatic and outgoing behavior, his parents say, is from the many months spent in the children’s ward of Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center where he was surrounded by doctors, nurses, and other adults.

Diagnosed at birth
At birth Finn was diagnosed with Wiskott-Aldrich syndrome (WAS), a fatal hereditary immune system disorder that claimed the life of Finn’s uncle Mark in 1975 at the age of nine.

Thanks to advances in bone marrow transplant techniques and the creation of the NMDP, a cure was now available for Finn.The problem was not only that Finn needed a bone marrow match but that he also had to be old enough to survive the radiation and chemotherapy needed to prepare his body for the new bone marrow. Finn spent most of his first two years in and out of the hospital, staying for months at a time, while doctors scrambled to get his body stable enough to undergo a bone marrow transplant, his only chance for a cure.

A matching donor
To find a match, siblings and close relatives are tested first, but 70% of patients searching for a donor do not find one within their own family. Finn is half Asian and half Caucasian, so finding a match could have been a challenge, since only 7% of the potential marrow donors on Be The Match Registry^® are of Asian descent. Despite the odds, a perfect 10 out of 10 match was found.

Melissa’s Story

The person who helped save Finn’s life is Melissa Mahany Budd. Melissa had joined Be The Match Registry about eight years before during a blood and bone marrow drive underwritten by Coca-Cola, her employer at the time. Ironically, by the time she was contacted by Be The Match, her mother was undergoing her own cancer treatment.

Melissa was nervous, and like many potential marrow donors, she worried that her bone marrow might not work. Melissa’s life-saving cells were collected through a peripheral blood stem cell (PBSC) donation, similar to donating platelets. Melissa reported the worst part was sitting still for several hours.

Good news
When Melissa found out the transplant was a success, she said it was hard to describe how joyous she felt. She could not get over the fact that something so small could save someone’s life, and she was happy to be able to share with her mom that she had saved this boy’s life. Her mom has since passed away from cancer. What would Melissa say to someone who is thinking about registering: What are you waiting for? It is the easiest gift you can give.