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Local Santa Clarita Woman In Search Of Life-Saving Bone Marrow Donor

A 22-year-old former Valencia High School student diagnosed with an aggressive form of leukemia is in search of a life-saving bone marrow donor through “Be The Match.”

Kristen, known as “KC” to her friends and family, graduated from Valencia High School in 2018, where she was one of the captains of the VHS dance team during her senior year and involved in many other dance organizations throughout Santa Clarita Valley.

KC, now 22, later attended UC Irvine to begin her nursing career, realizing her dream of helping others heal.

After only a few weeks into her new career, she noticed odd symptoms, including joint pain and excessive bleeding of her gums.

“I’d be going to the hospital for work and then taking online classes a few times a week throughout September,” KC said. “I was getting really tired at work but I thought I was just tired from working 12-hour shifts.”

KC had her blood drawn at urgent care at the advice of her orthodontist and was diagnosed with acute myeloid leukemia (AML), an aggressive form of cancer.

“It showed up with a platelet count of 18 and my white blood cell count was 75 and a normal one is between four and eleven,” KC said.

KC immediately underwent chemotherapy treatments. However, one of the mutations in her blood markers will require a bone marrow or stem cell donation in order for her to have hope of recovery.

After finding out that her sister was not a matching donor, City of Hope has provided outreach to Be The Match and various other resources to help KC find a donor.

“City of Hope has reached out to us and we have people from that network that have helped us tremendously setting up drives and trying to get my story out there,” KC said.

Now, Be The Match is hosting a live donor registry drive at College of The Canyons on Thursday, Dec. 1 from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. in an effort to find a match for KC and help spread awareness for bone marrow and stem cell donations.

One of the biggest proponents helping to promote KC’s need for a donor has been Monica Aguilar Hicks, a local Santa Clarita resident and ambassador for Be The Match who came across KC’s story from social media posts.

Monica’s late husband, Leo, also had AML, and thanks to a donor, lived an extra fourteen months, prompting Monica and her family to become involved with Be The Match and raise awareness of the organization.

“It gave our family an extra year of life,” Monica said.  “When we beat AML, Leo said ‘we are going to advocate for them, we are going to tell our story and how important it is for people to donate and get tested as donors.”

“She’s a blessing,” Regina, KC’s mother, said of Monica. “I have not met her in person, but when I was told my daughter would need a bone marrow transplant in her future, my social media posts changed from celebrating her graduation and getting her RN license to a desperate plea for a bone marrow donor match.”

Similarly, Regina first became involved with Be The Match over 22 years ago before KC was even born, getting tested when a member of her church was in need of a transplant.

Though Regina did not match that particular person, she was contacted eight years later when it was revealed she was a match for another person in need of a donation.

“Transplants are basically the only possible cure, not only for leukemia patients but lymphoma patients and people with other blood disorders, so there’s a lot of people in need of a transplant,” KC said.

With thousands of patients in need throughout the country, KC, Regina, and Monica hope to bring more awareness to bone marrow and stem cell donations which can often be stigmatized as painful.

Thanks to modern technology and organizations such as Be The Match, not only are these procedures similar to blood donations in practice, they also often cover the expenses associated with them.

“Be The Match covers all the costs for donors,” KC said. “They pay for the procedures, the travel, and rooming accommodations and can send a swab kit even if they can’t go in person to get checked.”’

All members of the community are encouraged to attend the live donor registry at College of The Canyons in an effort to find a match for KC or others throughout the country in need of a donation.

For those unable to attend but that are interested in getting tested, text TEAMKC to 61474 to visit the Be The Match website and order an at-home swab kit free of charge.

“There are thousands of cancer patients throughout the country that need the donation as much as I do and we’re just trying to bring awareness to it,” KC said. “And for people like myself, it can mean a lifetime just to get checked.”

To find out more about KC and Be The Match, click here.


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Local Santa Clarita Woman In Search Of Life-Saving Bone Marrow Donor

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About Matthew Frieda

A New York native, Matthew Frieda moved to the Los Angeles area and attended California Lutheran University. During his time at Cal Lutheran, Matthew took part in a global business program that took him to Milan, Italy. Matthew has since worked as a freelance writer and content creator for various sports websites. He continues to create on his YouTube channel, covering all 30 Major League Baseball teams.