ST. CLOUD, Fla. – Less than 24 hours after the family of a St. Cloud teen with leukemia held an emergency bone marrow drive, they've found a match.
AJ Faulx, a 19-year-old University of Central Florida student, was matched with an unidentified man already in the registry. Doctors said he needed a donor within a month.
Faulx's aunt, Michelle Faulx-Purcell, coordinated an event at the Gold's Gym in St. Cloud to search for a donor Tuesday and Wednesday, and about 100 people showed up.
After seeing Faulx's story on News 6, the response was overwhelming: More than 150 people joined the bone marrow registry on Thursday alone.
However, now that Faulx has found a donor, those samples will be used to help match the more than 7,000 currently waiting on the list.
Faulx's 13-year-old sister, Abigail, said they are overwhelmed by the support of the community.
"Just to think that they'd come out here and do that, for a person they don't even know, that's just like wow," Abigail said.
High school teacher Kendyl Bess hasn't even met Faulx, but she spent hours swabbing the cheeks of anyone who's willing to see if they're a bone marrow match.
"When one of our own, or even one of not our own, is sick, and it's a kid, and he has his whole life ahead of him, we really want to help him no matter what," Bess said.
Faulx's struggle started about a year ago, with what he thought was the flu. It turned out to be acute myeloid leukemia. First, treatments went well, and then the cancer came back with a vengeance. Doctors said he has one month to find a bone marrow donor.
"As soon as possible. You think you have a little time, and we don't," Faulx-Purcell, said.
Acute Myeloid Leukemia Overview | HealthGrove
Faulx-Purcell got to work setting up at Gold's Gym on 13th Street in St. Cloud and then the people started coming.
BeTheMatch.org is expediting the testing process for Faulx. Many found out the bone marrow donation procedure is not as scary as they thought.
"It can be as simple as a blood draw from your hip where you have the most cells, or sometimes you can go under local anesthesia for a procedure," Bess said.
If not for Faulx, thousands wait on the list. His aunt said he wants to help them, too.
"He told me, 'Aunt Michelle, if you can't find one for me, find one for somebody,' so that's why we're doing this,” she said.
Faulx is expected to receive the bone marrow transplant sometime in the next month.