MONTREAL - Julie Ouimette posted an open letter on Facebook a few days ago, looking for a hero who can save her life. The hero Ouimette needs is a suitable bone marrow donor to can help her beat her cancer once and for all.
"He can come from anywhere: Canada, Quebec, France, England, Germany, I don't know, Japan," said Ouimette.
Diagnosed with leukemia when she was eight, Ouimette has undergone two stem cell transplants and rounds of chemotherapy over the years, but the cancer has returned.
Just last week two possible donors in Europe turned out not to be suitable matches. Ouimette has specific proteins in her cells that are tough to match.
With the latest upset, Ouimette's mother came up with the idea of finding a hero by getting the word out to encourage people everywhere to register with their local bone marrow donor bank.
"I can't believe there's not a match somewhere in this world, we just need to find that person," said Natalie Waskiewicz, Ouimette's mother.
She and her mother want as many people as possible to register with Hema Quebec. All you have to do is go to the website, click on the donor link and fill out a questionnaire. Since last week, nearly 3,000 people have done just that.
"Usually that's our goal for one year so that's a lot of new donors," said Diane Roy, the director of Hema Quebec's bone marrow section.
Once you register, Hema Quebec will send you a kit to enter you in to the databank.
"When your children feel sick you want them to stay with you all your life, you know? So yeah, I'm looking for a hero," said Waskiewicz.
In the meantime, Ouimette is taking CEGEP courses at home and is keeping busy perfecting her painting, above all she is staying positive her hero will be found.
