12-year-old spreads awareness on stem donation after receiving gift of life [Video]

Twelve-year-old Kelsey Farris is familiar with hospital visits, medical crises and pain no child should endure. Kelsey’s battle with sickle cell disease began at birth. After years of searching for solutions, her doctors were able to find a cure by a stem therapy and bone marrow transplant.“It’s a huge blessing that she is essentially able to start life over again,” said Ebony Farris, Kelsey’s mother.According to NMDP, a nonprofit dedicated to cell therapy, ethnically diverse patients with blood cancers and disorders historically have had less than a 50 percent chance of finding a transplant match.Kelsey’s mother and family members began testing as a match, however, health experts say 70 percent of patients do not have a match in their families. “You are more likely to match a donor who shares your ethnicity to racial background,” said Erica Sevilla, a spokesperson for NMDP. “Our younger population is becoming more and more …