Akshat Jain: Life is Significance
Akshat Jain, Medical Director Pediatric and Young Adult Program for Hemostasis/Thrombosis and Sickle Cell Disease at Loma Linda University, shared a post on LinkedIn:
“Life is Significance.
Painful story of a family with severe EE Thalassemia.
From a small, rural village in Cambodia, father of a pale and frail 5 year old who was sitting beside her, sat worried etched deep into his weathered face. His daughter had a rare type of severe thalassemia( EE type), a disorder that required regular blood transfusions to keep her alive.
These treatments were hard to come by in their village, and each passing month brought the terrifying possibility of losing her.
Her father had spent years watching his daughter suffer. Her childhood was stolen by hospital visits, bouts of illness, and the weight of a disease they could neither escape nor afford to treat.
Determined to give her a chance at life, he made an unthinkable decision: he would uproot his family, save every penny, and find the best care for his girl—no matter where it took them.
Word reached that there may be a chance at better management and likely cure for this disease.
The determined father left everything behind to come to us in USA. California, however, was not the land of instant miracles. Speaking no English,this family found themselves navigating a labyrinth of hospitals, immigration hurdles, and red tape to eventually reach us where we got this little girl the treatment she needed and prepped her for hematopoietic cell therapy .
I remember this father desperation in clinic when he fell to his knees, tears streaming down his face.
Save my daughter, he pleaded in Khmer, hand folded in Namaste She is all we have in 2022.
A donor half way around the world donated cells that made the stem cell transplant successful. Her once frail frame grew stronger. Her cheeks, once pale, flushed with color.
For the first time in years, she smiled without pain.
In deep gratitude, the dad told me that with the help of NMDP , the stem cell donor , who selflessly underwent a cell donation two times ,half way around the world , was united with her daughter so they could thank this soul in person, making this a miraculous moment , that just doesn’t happen everyday to anyone .
Two years after her transplant, in December 2024, the family gathered at our annual Christmas party and made me think ,this wasn’t just a victory over a disease—it was a testament to the power of resilience, compassion, and the unwavering belief in a life of significance.”
More posts featuring Akshat Jain.
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ESMO 2024 Congress
September 13-17, 2024
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ASCO Annual Meeting
May 30 - June 4, 2024
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Yvonne Award 2024
May 31, 2024
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OncoThon 2024, Online
Feb. 15, 2024
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Global Summit on War & Cancer 2023, Online
Dec. 14-16, 2023