Juan's quest to save his son, Max, has sparked a global movement for stem cell donation and emphasised the critical need for diversity in donor registries
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What began as a father’s, desperate attempt to save his 15-year-old son Max Uribe's, has grown into something bigger than one family could have imagined, a global wave of awareness, action and hope.
The teenager has been battling a rare blood disease since he was six.
Today, his condition has progressed to the point where he urgently needs a stem cell transplant, ideally from a perfectly matched donor.
Max is from Colombian and European descent.
In a desperate bid to help his son, his father Juan Uribe launched the #SwabforMax campaign to call for people aged 18 to 35 to register as stem cell donors.
Stem cell donation is a life-saving medical treatment that involves collecting healthy cells from a donor and transplanting them into a patient whose bone marrow is damaged or sick.
For Uribe, the journey has become more than a fight for his son’s life.
"Finding a perfect donor was a long shot, but as a dad I felt I had to do everything I could to try and increase my son's five-year survival rate.
"So, I have no regrets about that at all." he said.
While Max’s perfect match has not been found, his story is already inspirational.
What followed was more than sympathy but a movement. The campaign was so successful that thousands took it upon themselves to get tested.
They began to ordering cheek swab kits, signing up to donor registries and sharing Max’s story across social media platforms.
IOL