October 17, 2008

Jessica Pessoa, a 22-year-old Emergency Medical Dispatcher for the City of Toronto, has helped hundreds of Torontonians who have called 911 in a medical emergency. Now she is battling Leukemia and needs a stem cell transplant.

Jessica was first diagnosed with Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia when she was 15 years old. She thought she had beat the disease, but this July, she found out it had returnedPhysicians have told Jessica her best chance to defeat the cancer is a stem cell transplant, but like 70% of patients, she hasn’t found a match in her own family. She is now undergoing chemotherapy and radiation to combat the leukemia while the search for a stem cell donor continues.

“As a 911 dispatcher, Jessica helps save lives everyday, responding to calls for help from sick and injured people,” says Toronto EMS Chief Bruce Farr. “Now we are asking citizens to respond to our own call for help by giving blood and registering as a stem cell donor on the OneMatch Stem Cell and Marrow Network so Jessica and the hundreds of other patients needing a donor may successfully find a match.”

Currently, there are approximately 600 diverse patients in Canada who need stem cell transplants to treat potentially life-threatening illnesses like leukemia, lymphoma and myeloma. The best matches are usually found from the same ethnic background as the patient.

“We need more people to join the OneMatch Network. There are so many people out there who need transplants and cannot have one because there is no match,” says Jessica.

Many of Jessica’s colleagues—including paramedics and Emergency Medical Dispatchers—have been inspired by Jessica’s story to join OneMatch, but more donors are needed. The process is simple. Go to www.onematch.ca and complete a short survey. If you are eligible, OneMatch will send a kit in the mail containing 4 cotton swabs that you rub against the inside of your cheek. After mailing the kit back, you will be part of the registry. “Please register as a stem cell donor. It is pain and cost free and so easy to join, and it can be your chance to save a life if you are a match with someone,” says Jessica.

To learn more or to register on the OneMatch Stem Cell and Marrow Network, please visit www.onematch.ca.


To see Jessica tell her story on video, click here.