A Victoria father who fought for greater ethnic diversity in Canada’s stem-cell donor pool has died of leukemia after he was unable to find a donor match.
Jeremy Chow organized stem-cell drives with his family and friends to encourage Canadians, especially those of mixed racial backgrounds, to register as stem-cell donors.
Unlike blood donors, stem-cell donors must have similar ethnic backgrounds to their recipients because compatibility is based on genetic material inherited from both parents.
Chow’s parents were Chinese and white. His doctors were unable to find a suitable donor for a stem-cell transplant to match his genetic makeup after he had acute myeloid leukemia diagnosed in November 2018.
He died on May 30, leaving his wife, Evelyn Chow, and their daughters, Maile, 11, and Jayla, nine.
Evelyn said her husband was always thinking about other people and offering to help, even as his condition deteriorated. He used his profile to offer a platform to others in his position searching for difficult-to-find-donors.
Evelyn said Chow was known to say: “If one good thing comes out of this, it’ll be that it helps others.”
Years ago, he had registered as a stem-cell donor after watching an ad about the need for more diverse donors.
Evelyn said it was “heartbreaking and disappointing” that, despite everything he did to diversify the donor pool, he was still unable to find a match.
“He still had so much to give to the family. He had so much that he still wanted to teach to Maile and Jayla,” she said.
Chow is being remembered by friends and family for his “quick wit and infectious laugh,” says a post on the Match4Jeremy Facebook page.
“He was easy-going, stoic, fair and selfless. Always willing to help a friend and was never afraid to speak his mind,” the post says. “Jeremy always loved the outdoors and he was adventurous.”
According to Canadian Blood Services, anyone can have trouble finding a matching donor, but Indigenous people, Asians, South Asians and African Canadians “face a much steeper hill” finding a match. The organization says stem-cell transplants can treat more than 80 diseases and disorders.
People of mixed-race backgrounds, like Chow, can have an even harder time finding a life-saving match.
Last year, Canadian Blood Services said there were more than 20 patients of mixed ethnicity looking for a match, but only about three per cent of donors in the stem-cell registry have mixed backgrounds.
More than 65 per cent of potential donors on the registry are white.
“To accurately reflect Canada’s patient population, we urge potential stem-cell donors from all ethnic backgrounds to join Canadian Blood Services Stem Cell Registry online,” the organization said in an email.
To join Canada’s national stem-cell registry, potential donors must be between 17 and 35 years old, in good health with no infectious diseases and willing to donate to anyone in need.
Anyone interested in joining the registry can request a self-swab kit in the mail.
A fundraising page set up to support Chow’s daughters has raised more than $25,000 in three days.
