Chicago cop searching for bone marrow donor

CHICAGO (WLS) -- Blanca Magallon, a Chicago police officer and mother of four, is in need of a lifesaving transplant. She needs a bone marrow donor, but what makes that especially difficult is, the donor must be Hispanic.

"It's hard to explain to little ones that you're not coming home, and the search for a donor has been hard," Magallon said. "I was let down not once, not twice, but nine times."

Magallon talks emotionally about her frustration with the challenges of finding a donor. Surrounded by friends and family, the mother of four tries to stay strong while undergoing chemo treatments for leukemia. She was diagnosed in July, and doctors say without a transplant, her prognosis is bleak.

"The chemotherapy in most situations similar to Blanca is not sufficient, and having a bone marrow transplant is something that gives her hope and a chance to be cured so that she can have time to raise her children," said Dr. Santosh Saraf, University of Illinois Hospital and Health Sciences System.

According to bethematch.org, a person is more likely to find a donor from the same racial or ethnic background, but it's harder for minorities. Hispanics are 83 percent likely to find a match and African American are only 76 percent as compared to whites at 97 percent, so, Magallon is pleading for people to get tested.

"I can't breathe until I know they donated," Magallon said.

Magallon says the two biggest reasons people don't get tested is because of fear and lack of knowledge.

Blanca's GoFundMe page: http://www.gofundme.com/efokiw?pc=mb_em