THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1997, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Monday, January 6, 1997 TAG: 9701060052
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY NANCY LEWIS, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: CHESAPEAKE LENGTH: 96 lines
The odds might have improved Sunday that 5-month-old Hannah Gosey will someday skip down a sidewalk, giggle with girlfriends and live to see a child of her own do the same.
About 800 South Hampton Roads residents came forward in hopes that their bone marrow would save Hannah's life.
``We never expected this,'' said Kim Gosey, Hannah's mother. ``We are so blessed.''
Without a marrow transplant, Hannah probably will die before she is 10. She would be severely retarded, blind and probably deaf by first grade - in a wheelchair, her bones contorted.
Hannah, daughter of Kim and David Gosey of Portsmouth, suffers from Hurler's Syndrome, a rare genetic disorder.
A bone marrow transplant is her only hope, but the odds are literally one-in-a-million that a suitable donor will be found. Bone marrow must be a nearly perfect match at the DNA levelbefore it can be transplanted.
Ona Bishop, recruiter for the American Red Cross and the National Marrow Donor Program, said to forget the statistics.
``Somebody's going to match her somewhere,'' said Bishop, who lives in Virginia Beach. ``I just know it. I can feel it.''
Hundreds of people showed up Sunday to have their blood tested to find a possible match for Hannah. A combination of funding from a federal grant and private donors kept the cost of the test at $19 for the first 700 possible donors, said family members and Bishop. Many people after that were willing to pay twice the amount for the chance to help, said Charles Sledge, Hannah's maternal grandfather. Others said they'd come back when a date for more testing at the lower price is set, Sledge reported.
Some people who weren't eligible as tissue donors for age or medical reasons gave money to defray charges for others, said Sledge. Medical personnel volunteered to help draw blood, he said.
It will be several weeks before the results of samples taken Sunday are plugged into the national registry and available to doctors working to save Hannah's life, said Bishop. Those tested Sunday may be called upon to donate bone marrow to someone besides Hannah, if and when another match is found.
There are 35 other Hampton Roads families waiting for marrow, said Bishop.
Potential donors began lining up at the Chesapeake office of Hannah's pediatrician, Dr. Sandra Baucom, two hours before American Red Cross volunteers were scheduled to begin drawing blood, and by 1 p.m., when the doors opened, a line snaked halfway around the office building. The stream of those who came to help remained steady all afternoon.
``We have a Hannah, too,'' said Tara Lucas, waiting in line with her husband, Joe. The 23-year-old Virginia Beach mother bent over a stroller and reached down to adjust a pink hair bow attached to the headband of her 4-month-old Hannah. ``I'd want someone to rally for my baby like this.''
For Frances Sledge, Hannah Gosey's maternal great-grandmother, the turnout was a surprise birthday gift. She turned 79 Sunday.
Karen Ormes celebrated a birthday Sunday, too - her 49th. She waited in line with husband David to be tested.
``I wanted to give a gift back,'' said the Chesapeake grandmother.
The disorder is so rare that Hannah's physician, Dr. Sandra Baucom, had never seen another case. In fact, most cases are not diagnosed until the age of 3 or 4, when mental retardation becomes apparent. By then, damage to the brain, limbs and other organs is usually severe.
The Goseys launched their campaign to find a donor just two days after hearing their daughter's prognosis. Hannah is their only child, so no possible sibling donor is available. The couple have been tested, as have other blood relatives, with no luck.
Kim, 27, is a medical insurance specialist who works for Baucom, and David, 29, is a boilermaker at the Norfolk Naval Shipyard.
Insurance will cover the estimated $100,000 cost of Hannah's transplant, in addtion to the donor's medical costs.
To donate marrow, several cups of the soft substance are withdrawn from a donor's hip bone through a needle. A donor can expect to be sore for several days.
That prospect didn't concern David Ormes.
``Everybody can put up with a little pain,'' said the Chesapeake man, waiting to have his blood drawn and gesturing toward little Hannah Gosey. ``And look at the benefit.''
For more information about becoming a marrow donor, call 1-800-MARROW-7. ILLUSTRATION: [Color Photo]
BILL TIERNAN
The Virginian-Pilot
About 800 South Hampton Roads residents came to Renaissance
Pediatrics in Chesapeake as prospective donors for Kim Gosey's
5-month-old daughter, Hannah. Hannah suffers from Hurler's Syndrome,
a rare genetic disorder.
Tara and Joe Lucas, with their 4-month-old, also named Hannah, wait
to be tested as bone marrow donors for Hannah Gosey. ``I'd want
someone to rally for my baby like this,'' Tara Lucas said. Hannah
Gosey has a rare genetic disorder; without a transplant, she will
probably die before she is 10. Nearly 800 people came to be tested
in Chesapeake on Sunday.
BILL TIERNAN
The Virginian-Pilot
KEYWORDS: BONE MARROW DONOR