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.