Pike Petersen spent most of his summer and the start of the school year at Medical City Children's Hospital undergoing chemotherapy treatments.
"They diagnosed me with leukemia," Petersen said. "I was really confused, tired, not hungry. I didn't eat anything. I lost 25 pounds."
The once active 8th grader at Providence Christian now needs a donor. Just 2% of the people in the United States are registered bone marrow/stem cell donors.
"This is a numbers game," Amy Roseman, managing director of the nonprofit Earl Young's Team said. "If more than 2% of Americans were signed up, more than four out of 10 patients would find a matching donor."
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More than 1,200 people turned out for a donor drive at Park Cities Baptist Church on Aug. 27. Another donor drive will be held at the church on Wednesday, Aug. 30 from 5:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m.
People in good health between the ages of 18 and 55 are encouraged to get tested. It takes just six minutes to fill out the forms and swab a cheek.
"We call those people 'heroes in waiting'," Roseman said. "So they are just waiting to be needed by their unrelated genetic twin."
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"This would be like winning the lottery," Pike's dad Paul Petersen said. "Our faith is strong, and I have absolute peace that we're going to find a donor. It's just a matter of time."
The Petersens are very familiar with what it takes to fight cancer. Pike's mother battled lymphoma within the last year.
"It's been helpful that she can relate to pretty much everything I'm going through," Pike Petersen said. "Just the other day my mom pointed out to me that other people can get a match with my drive. It gives my drive purpose, just not for me. Like I'm not trying to be selfish to find MY donor; I'm trying to find ANY donor."
Most patients need stem cell donations, which is similar to donated platelets. About 10% of patients need bone marrow donations, which is done at a hospital.
If you are unable to make it to the donor drive but would like to register to see if you are a match or Pike or anyone else, click this link for a home swap kit.
