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Tinnley Harmon (Photo Courtesy of the Harmon Family)

Santa Clarita Toddler Fighting Leukemia To Have Fundraiser, Bone Marrow Drive

The Harmon’s were out of town on vacation when they received unexpected news about their toddler.


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Two-year-old Tinnley and her family were visiting her grandmother for Thanksgiving in Seattle when she began to have cold-like symptoms.

Tinnley had been experiencing a fever for multiple nights, along with teething symptoms.

“Since she was teething, it didn’t seem weird to me,” said Tinnley’s mother, Brittany Harmon.

It wasn’t until the toddler began to show signs of little red dots on her skin that Harmon knew she needed medical attention.

The family headed to urgent care and were soon escorted to the emergency room.

After performing many tests, doctors told the Harmon’s that they needed to head to the Children’s Hospital in Seattle immediately.

At first, doctors said that Tinnley had caught a respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), which causes infections of the lungs and respiratory tract and is so common that most children have been infected with the virus by age two, according to Mayo Clinic.

Although there was now a name to the cause of the problem, Tinnley’s symptoms continued.

She had a very low blood cell count and wasn’t recovering, so doctors did more tests.

After a bone marrow biopsy, doctors determined that the two-year-old girl had leukemia.

“We thought we were going for a virus,” said Harmon. “So it was all overwhelming.”

Tinnley was diagnosed with acute myelogenous leukemia (AML), which has different subtypes and hers is acute megakaryoblastic leukemia (AML-M7), a rare disease due to difficulty in diagnosis and its exact incidence is not known, according to Mayo Clinic.

Every three minutes, one person is diagnosed with a blood cancer. Every 10 minutes, someone dies from a blood cancer. That’s more than six people each hour, or 148 people each day, according to Be The Match.

“I don’t think there’s any words to describe when they tell you your child has leukemia,” said Harmon. “My mind just went blank.”

The mother of two took the news much more deeply because about 20 years ago, her two-year-old cousin had succumbed to the same leukemia.

“It’s my child’s life that I’m trying to save, but it’s also a constant reminder of the past,” said Harmon. “It’s hard to separate them, but I know that they’re two different stories.”

The Seattle hospital coordinated with Children’s Hospital Los Angeles, where their journey would continue.

Unfortunately, Tinnley’s parents and sister were not a match for bone marrow transplant, so the Harmon’s are now on the search for a perfect match.

It’s much more complicated than just blood type- it’s human leukocyte antigen (HLA) typing used to match patients and donors for bone marrow or cord blood transplants. HLA typing takes a look at someone’s DNA and genetics.

Someone could be a different blood type, but have the specific genetic pieces needed to match Tinnley’s bone marrow and replace her immune system.

“The chances are much better if she gets the transplant as soon as possible,” said Harmon.

There are currently no matches for Tinnley on the National Bone Marrow Registry, so the Harmon’s are taking a different approach.

“It feels very hopeless because you’re not able to do anything, but only hope that there’s a match out there,” said Harmon.

Related: Community Comes Out To Show Support for Child Fighting Leukemia

With the help of the SCV Birth Center, their weekly Moms Group put together a fundraiser that will feature food, fun, booths and Be The Match Registry.

Be The Match Registry is the largest and most diverse donor registry in the world that connects patients searching for a cure to life-saving bone marrow donors, according to their website.

“I don’t know how we’d do it if friends and family didn’t help,” said Harmon.

A Be the Match Registry table will be on-site where people can register for the bone marrow match for free — all it takes is a simple cheek swab and questionnaire.

Tinnley’s mother never thought she would have to go through this process.

“To me it seemed strange to be an organ donor,” said Harmon. “But when you see just how important something like that is, I feel silly for not doing that before.”

Harmon says that although she wasn’t a match for her daughter, she will be registering with Be The Match to be a bone marrow donor.

The fundraiser will take place at the Wolf Creek Brewery, a family-friendly venue, on Saturday, March 17 from 12 p.m. to 5 p.m.

The Wolf Creek Brewery is located at 25108 Rye Canyon Loop in Santa Clarita.

A suggested $5 donation at the door, along with raffle opportunities will go directly towards the Harmon’s to support the cost of medical care, transportation and other essential needs.

The event will have vegan food trucks, Cena Vegan and Vegatinos, and beverage options from Wolf Creek Brewery.

The event will also host Corinna Shultz Photography and will be offering 10-minute photography mini-sessions to guests for $25.

One hundred percent of the proceeds will be donated directly to the Harmon family.

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Santa Clarita Toddler Fighting Leukemia To Have Fundraiser, Bone Marrow Drive

5 comments

  1. My husband and I would like to register with be a match but will not be in Santa Clarita at the time. Is there another way to register to see if we are a mat h in support of Tinnley?

  2. I’ve been on “be the match” for about 15 years or more now. So that means comung out tomorrow and donating will not be advantageous for her since no match on registry?

  3. I am 49 years old. Am I too old to be a bone marrow donor? If not I will register.

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About Lorena Mejia

Lorena was born and raised in the San Fernando Valley. She attended California State University Northridge where she double majored in Journalism and Chicano Studies and minored in Spanish Language Journalism. While at CSUN, she worked for the university's television and radio newscast. Through her journalistic work, she earned membership to Kappa Tau Alpha, a national honor society for selected journalists. Her passion for the community has introduced her to new people, ideas, and issues that have helped shape the person she is today. Lorena’s skills include using cameras as a tool to empower people by informing them and creating change in their communities. Some of her hobbies include reading the news, exploring the outdoors, and being an avid animal lover. To contact Lorena, send your messages to lorena@hometownstation.com.