On May 13th 2021 Esha who is just 4 years old, was diagnosed with acute myeloid leukaemia. Esha was rushed to the doctor back in May after she lost her appetite, became lethargic and developed bruising on her leg. After a series of blood tests, her parents, Rish and Kavitha Nadeswaran were given the devastating news that she had acute myeloid leukaemia (AML).
Despite spending the last 15 weeks at Great Ormond Street Hospital, the two intensive cycles of chemotherapy she has undergone has unfortunately been ineffective. She desperately needs to find a stem cell donor in the next 3 weeks to save her life, but no one on the worldwide registry is a match. You might be the match that we are praying for!
South Asians are heavily underrepresented on the register and it is much more difficult for patients with a diverse ethnic heritage to find a matching donor.
Esha’s father and mother, who are from a Sri Lankan family, urged more people from south Asian backgrounds to come forward and sign up as donors.
“It’s not just about Esha, there are hundreds of people looking for bone marrow,” Rish said.
Rish said that a transplant is the last chance of survival for Esha, who he described as a “very funny and bubbly and cheeky individual” who “makes anyone who meets her smile” and loves Disney princess movies.
He said: “The reality is if she doesn’t get it, she will not survive.”
If you’re 17-55 and in good general health, request a swab kit to become a potential lifesaver today: http://www.dkms.org.uk/Esha
If you haven’t registered and would like to get a swab test kit and get tested straight away, please come to our drop-in testing events starting this week across London.
All upcoming events will be posted here: https://for-esha.squarespace.com and https://www.facebook.com/Match4Esha
