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CLICCA QUI

Cristina is a Canadian citizen of Italian ancestry who needs someone in the 35 cooperative, international, Bone Marrow Registries to be her marrow match and help save her life.


Cristina Di CorteCristina Di Corte is 25 years old and suffers from a disease so rare you've probably never heard of it before. Mitochondrial neurogastrointestinal encephalopathy (MNGIE) is an inherited condition that has caused her digestive tract to no longer be able to move food through her body or absorb nutrients from it.

  • Because of this she can no longer eat or drink but instead receives all of her nutrition, fluids and medications via a central line catheter.
  • She suffers from excessive weight loss.
  • The disease causes her to experience severe gastro-intestinal pain and has lost sensation in her lower limbs. She now needs a walker and wheelchair to go out and can no longer work passionately as a hairdresser, her chosen occupation.
  • The disease also causes a toxic build-up of two chemicals in her blood so she occasionally requires blood transfusions to normalize her blood chemistry.
  • Because no match has been found Cristina now suffers from thyroid problems, her ovaries have been damaged so she can no longer have children, and she discovered she had osteoperosis when her leg broke in January of 2015, the complications of which she is still dealing with.
  • MNGIE is a progressive disease that moves at different speeds in different patients. Cristina's doctors have declared her need as urgent due to the speed at which her disease is progressing.

A bone marrow transplant won't cure her, but can stop MNGIE's progress and has the potential to prolong Cristina's life by decades. Because no one in her immediate family was a marrow match, for Cristina to have a future that includes the kind of quality of life we would all want, she must now rely on the kindness of a stranger to donate their bone marrow (aka stem cells) to her.

#HopeForCristina Awareness Campaign and Fundraising T-Shirts


CLICK HERE to ORDER YOUR

Tweet #HopeForCristina T-Shirts

Available in sizes:
Small, Medium, Large, X-Large and XX-Large

All proceeds will be donated to the Princess Margaret Hospital Foundation. This is the hospital that will perform Cristina's marrow transplant once her match has been located. Read More
Press
If you haven't seen it already, please watch Cristina's NEW VIDEO:



#HopeForCristina is Cristina's story told by Cristina, her family, friends and supporters.
 

Cristina Di Corte on CityTV

CLICK HERE to watch the Video on the CityNews.ca website

Please visit CityNews Toronto to watch the feature they did about Crisitna's marrow donor drive effforts on the 6:00 o'clock news. A special thanks to Reporter Cynthia Mulligan for spending the time with Cristina to help share her story so that the person who is her marrow match will see her and join the registry no matter where they live.

Common Myths About Marrow Donation
  • Donating is excruciatingly painful: The majority of donations are now given through a method called PBSC that, for most donors, is almost pain free. They may experience mild, temporary discomfort (flu-like symptoms of fever and nausea) while giving their donations but that's usually the worst of it.
  • Everyone will find a match in their own family: Only 30% of patients find a match within their own family
  • Everyone will find a match in time: 70% of patients will not find a match in time.
  • I'm a rare blood type so I won't be a match: Marrow matches are made through a DNA match, not a blood type. This is why ethnicity matters.
  • I'm not of Italian descent so I can't help Cristina: Though it is uncommon, occasionally there will be a marrow match between a patient and donor of different ethnic groups so there's always a slim chance you could be anyone's match.


Over 80% of bone marrow donations are now given through
a blood donation process called PBSC that works like this.

  

Printable Flyers
 
How You Can Help Cristina
  1. Join Canada's www.OneMatch.ca
  2. Join the United States' www.BeTheMatch.com
  3. Join Italy's Italian Bone Marrow Donor Registry.
  4. Click here for more registries worldwide.
  5. Ask others to join their local registries by word of mouth, email, Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest or blogging.
  6. Like Cristina's Facebook Page for updates.
  7. Follow her on Twitter and tweet #HopeForCristina
  8. Print Cristina's flyers and hang them where you work, shop, etc.

Print a Flyer

Please Share This Website:

In Canada please join One Match

One Match

Click Here to learn how to join the registry
or help spread the word to help Cristina.

www.OneMatch.ca

Age requirements:
17 to 50 years to join

Registering is pain free, done with a cotton swab.

In the United States please join Be The Match
Be The Match

Join www.BeTheMatch.com and/or Host a drive in the US to help Cristina and the other 6000 US patients in need.

Join Now Online
by ordering a test kit

Join in Person
at a live donor drive

Age requirements:
18 to 60 years to join

Registering is pain free, done with a cotton swab.

In Italy please join the IBMDR

IBMDR

Italian Bone Marrow
Donor Registry

Age requirements:
18-55 years to join

Registering is pain free, done with a cotton swab.

Press and Publicity

Aiutateci, a Cristina serve un trapianto - Corriere.com

#HOPEFORCRISTINA - SunNews (Video)

•  Social media used to find bone marrow donor - Global News (Video)

Woodbridge family uses social media in search for transplant - CBC News

Family using social media to find bone marrow match (News Video) - CityNews Toronto

Woman with rare disease needs bone morrow donor - Healthzone.ca

• Are you of Italian ancestry or know someone who is? - TheFlirtyBlog.com

Woman needs life-saving match - www.mississauga.com

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