Öykü Arin Yazıcı is only 3.5 years old. In 2018, she was diagnosed with Juvenile Myelomonocytic Leukemia (JMML) at the İzmir Dokuz Eylül University Hospital. JMML is a rare type of leukemia. The incidence rate of the disorder is 1-9 in one million, according to the Paris based Orphanet database.

Little Öykü Arin has recently started taking her chemotherapy treatment. However, a mutation in the PTPN11 gene has been observed in this specific type of JMML, and it can not be cured without a bone marrow transplant. For the transplant to take a place, a matching donor must be found. Several stem cell donation campaigns have been launched in Turkey and around the world, with the hope to save Öykü Arin, and all the other children diagnosed with leukemia.

So far, no matching donors have been found in the first search of the worlwide stem cell donor database (among seven million donors). It takes approximately 2 to 3 months for a new donor to be registered on the database.

Öykü Arin’s mother Eylem is appealing for blood donations:

“Even if the first ten million donors don’t match, the next person could be a match. That next person could be you and you really can change and save someone’s life. You can become the hope for that person. You can become the hope for everyone, and not only for Öykü. We all know how people feel for such a child on social media and share the post. Often, they feel sad for a short while and their life goes on with no action taken. This has become our usual act. You solve nothing just by feeling sad or when you ‘like’ a post. You have to act on it, ask others to act too, and become a donor by going to the next stem cell donation center”, she said.

Become a donor and use your potential to save a life.

Long live Öykü Arin!
Long Live Children!