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Arlie’s fight
At just 2-years-old Arlie was diagnosed with leukemia. She was a healthy child, so when she started feeling sick her parents took her to the doctor right away. After a year and a half of treatment she relapsed and her only path forward would be a bone marrow transplant. In just three weeks, Arlie had four matches on the Be The Match Registry® and thankfully, one was eager to help. After following a treatment of low-body radiation, Arlie received her marrow transplant and got her second chance at life—thanks to her amazing donor, Ryan.
What does Arlie love?
Arlie is now a full-of-life 7-year-old who loves being a big sister and all things girly. She also enjoys helping with her family’s non-profit, Living For Everything, which supports other patients who are in the hospital. Arlie and her mom, Lisa, deliver comfort kits with some of the same items that comforted Lisa when she stayed with Arlie which include plush blankets, pillows, and robes to families in the hospital fighting the same emotional battle. “She knows what we do for the families at the hospital—she talks to the kids and gives them comfort kits,” said Arlie’s mom.
What has Arlie been up to post-transplant?
Thanks to someone like you, she is happy, healthy, and home with her family. Arlie has a close relationship with her donor- she was even asked to be a flower girl in his wedding this summer.
“Sometimes I look at her and get an overwhelming feeling that she is here with me. It’s honestly a constant thought. I don’t think of it as trauma though, it’s perspective and what keeps me grounded. The smallest moments like listening to her chat with her virtual school friends, learning, telling me an intense story while her little nostrils flare and just getting to be with me (and enjoy all the fancy drinks) I’m grateful constantly,” said Arlie’s mom, Lisa.
* Arlie's mom and dad and her blood stem cell donor, Ryan, on her right
