You Can 'Become Mandi's Hero'

She grew up playing hockey…

Mandi Schwartz is from Canada, so, as you might suspect, she grew up playing hockey. So did her two younger brothers: Jaden, who plays for the Tri-City Storm in the USHL (and could be drafted in this month's NHL Draft), and Rylan, who's a freshman forward at Colorado College. In 2003, she was a bronze medal winner for Team Saskatchewan at the Canada Games, and three years later, joined Yale's hockey team, where she was named to the ECAC Hockey All-Academic squad three years in a row, but then the unthinkable happened.

... was diagnosed with leukemia …

Schwartz was diagnosed with acute myeloid leukemia (AML) on Dec. 8, 2008 and spent 130 days in the hospital. AML is a cancer that begins in the bone marrow and can spread quickly. She went through five rounds of chemotherapy, and on Jan. 8 of this year, her doctors determined that she was in remission. Hopeful, she returned to Yale, planning to play hockey again for the coming season. A mere three months later, the cancer returned. Now Schwartz, who's also engaged to be married, could have only a few months to live. That's why she needs your help.

... and now she needs a perfect match.

Schwartz needs a stem-cell donor, and as noted in this AOL Fanhouse article, because of her mixed heritage, finding just the right one becomes much more difficult. She also needs a bone-marrow donor. The odds may be against her, but that doesn't mean she's given up. Nor have the people who love her. A drive started called "Become Mandi's Hero," and Brennan Turner, a minor-league hockey player and friend of the family, has numerous registration drives scheduled across Canada for prospective donors. He also helps run a Facebook page that has more than 5,500 members, providing information and the opportunity to make a contribution. There's even a website, Natasha's Place, where you can find out how a donation works and what the cord blood donation enrollment process is like. The sooner you can help, the better.

Photo by David Silverman via dspics.com.