^Angel Amanda^

Today would have been my cousin Amanda's 20th Birthday. Amanda was an amazing and inspiring person. She had a passion for helping other's and absolutely adored her little cousins. She loved music and played the flute beautifully. Amanda was a fighter and will forever be my hero.

My sweet cousin passed away on December 30, 2006. Amanda was diagnosed with AML (leukemia) in January 2006. She fought so hard and even had a bone marrow transplant. Unfortunately the leukemia was too strong and almost 100 days after transplant the leukemia returned. With no other options left Amanda came home and enjoyed every minute left with family and friends. I have never known someone with so much courage. I will forever miss Amanda.

The experience of watching Amanda fight this "beast" made an impact on me. I knew about pediatric cancer before but watching someone so close to me battle this disease made me more aware of how badly there needs to be more done to fight cancer. Of all the cancer research funding only 1% goes to pediatric cancers. Right now Amanda's Mom Connie is in Washington D.C. to show support and the need for more money for pediatric cancer research. The Conquer Childhood Cancer Act was voted on and passed but still has some hurdles to make before it is put into action. Connie and other parents are there from all over the country to share their stories and the stories of other families to show how important it is to receive more funding. I am so proud of Connie to have the strength to go across the country and honor Amanda in this way.

Amanda needed a bone marrow transplant to try to cure the leukemia. A stranger that was on the bone marrow registry was contacted and made the decision to be the donor for Amanda. This person was unselfish in their decision to help save a life. After thinking about it I decided to join the bone marrow registry in memory of Amanda. It was simple to join. All it took was four simple cheek swabs with a q-tip and a medical questionnaire. There is a 1 in 200 chance of being a potential match for someone. There is a chance there will be several potential matches for a recipient, or there is the chance of being the only possible match. I felt compelled to join the registry because what if I am the one person that could help save someone else's life. I want to do this so much. I truly hope and pray that someday I get that call. It is true that there will be some inconvenience and possibly pain involved, but I feel it would be totally worth it. I want to save a life in memory of Amanda.

If you are interested or just want more information about being a bone marrow donor you can go to http://www.marrow.org/. If you would like to check out a website with links to many other children that are currently fighting cancer or have lost their battle you can go to http://www.asherandjacobsfriends.com/. Amanda had a caringbridge site that was used during her fight. You can visit her site at http://www.caringbridge.com/visit/amandabunch.

Happy 20th Birthday Amanda! We all miss you and love you so much!

Until next time,
Jaime