Christina Applegate supporting sisters fighting sickle cell anemia, looking for donor
The cancer survivor heard about Kimora and Kylie Van Sciver from a pal at her daughter’s school.
Actress Christina Applegate is hoping that her celebrity will help two little girls get a Christmas miracle.
Eleven-year-old Kimora Van Sciver and her younger sister, Kylie, who’s nine, are Inglewood-based sisters in need of a bone marrow donor to help them in their respective fights against sickle cell anemia. The veteran TV star is aiding in the efforts to find the individual who could save both girls’ lives.
“I can’t imagine as a mother, having both your daughters with this disorder, and they can’t find a match,” Applegate told People magazine. “The more we can get people to do this, then the bigger chance that they have of surviving.”
This is not the first time the star of Netflix’s Dead To Me has help siblings suffering from a debilitating disease.
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Ten years ago, Applegate learned about two brothers with a genetic blood disorder. She was tested to be a donor, and while she wasn’t a match, she amplified their story and helped find a 34-year-old woman in Germany whose donation saved the boys.
“I feel like nothing compares to the suffering that Kimora and Kylie have endured through my life and seeing it as a mother firsthand,” says the girls’ mother, Destiny, 33. “Having a front seat to it is the worst thing you can imagine.”
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Approximately 100,000 Americans are currently suffering from sickle cell anemia, which disproportionately affects Black people. The painful disease can result in permanent organ damage, blindness and early death. A bone marrow transplant, however, can alleviate some of the pain for most sufferers.
DKMS, an international organization dedicated to the fight against blood cancer and other blood disorders, supports patients with bone marrow donor drives and even mails out free at-home test kits that can help find donor matches. Click here to get an at-home kit, and see if you are a match.
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Applegate, who is herself a breast cancer survivor, heard about Kimora and Kylie from a friend at her daughter’s school, who described the pair as “the most amazing kids.”
“I just feel like everybody deserves a chance,” the actress told People, “and these girls deserve a chance. All you have to do is swab your mouth … and send it back. You may be the person that could save these girls’ lives or someone’s life.”
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