Marrow drive for young cancer patient

BY MATTHEW LYSIAK
DAILY NEWS WRITER

Thursday, January 3rd 2008, 4:00 AM

Little Rachel Rodin is hoping for a new year miracle.

The 7-year-old Public School 185 student was recently diagnosed with a recurrence of leukemia after a two-year remission, and now her family is calling on kindhearted Brooklynites to help find a matching donor for an urgently needed bone-marrow transplant.

"Our hope is that there is someone, anyone, out there who can help my daughter," said Rachel's mom, Elvira, 43. "So far we can't find a match, and the situation is getting very serious."

The bone-marrow transplant is vitally important because it is part of her treatment in combination with chemotherapy, which her doctors hope will rid her body of the cancer in her blood and bones once and for all.

To avoid rejection of the transplanted stem cells or severe graft-versus-host disease, the donor's marrow must match the recipient's, which can be like finding a needle in a haystack. That is why the family is now calling on the community in numbers.

The test is simple and requires only a swab from the inside of the cheek.

The donor drive is being held Jan. 19 at the Sheridan Council Knights of Columbus, 8417 Seventh Ave., Bay Ridge, from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. to find a marrow donor and matches for the frequent blood and platelets Rachel requires. Marathon Bank has agreed to pay the $25-per-test cost.

The family, which emigrated from Belarus to Bay Ridge in 1991, says it is humbled by the show of neighborly generosity in Brooklyn.

"Its amazing how much love and compassion people have shown towards her," said Elvira Rodin. "People from all around have been testing to see if they are a possible match."

June Johnson, cochairwoman of the American Cancer Society's Relay for Life for Bay Ridge/Bensonhurst/Dyker Heights, described Rachel as a "cute, bright, little sweetheart."

"It's all about numbers, and 99% of the people who test won't match," said Johnson, who already gave platelets. "But if you do match, you realize that you are the one person in this world who can save Rachel's life."

Rachel is a patient at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in Manhattan. For more information on how to help Rachel, contact Marion Novack at (212) 639-8177.