Earlier this year, the Quakes joined Be The Match’s campaign to help find a bone marrow match for then four-month-old Bruno Lara, who was diagnosed with an extremely rare immunodeficiency disease called HLH. Be The Match set up a booth in the 7UP Epicenter at the Quakes international friendly match against Mexico’s Club Leon on March 24, collecting cheek swabs to register fans in the bone marrow registry.
Baby Bruno recently celebrated his first birthday and is now happy and healthy. Six months ago, Bruno underwent a bone marrow transplant thanks to a donation from his father. While his dad was just a 50 percent match, making it a risky procedure, 100 percent of the cells in his body are now from his dad's donation.
According to the #TogetherForBruno Instagram account, Be The Match added 5,894 potential donors to its registry due to the #TogetherForBruno campaign, as of October 2018. The increased awareness and new names on the registry have already made an incredible impact, saving six lives.
If you are interested in joining the registry, you can sign up with this link. You can support the Lara family as they try to cover out-of-pocket medical expenses by contributing to their gofundme page. You can also help raise awareness by posting on social media with the hashtag #TogetherForBruno.
