PLEASANT HILL — Eight-year-old Natalie Nakatani was diagnosed with AML (acute myeloid leukemia) in the fall of 2008.

After five rounds of chemotherapy she went into remission and re-enrolled in school this past fall. But her leukemia returned in January and now her only chance for survival is to find a life-saving bone marrow donor as soon as possible. All are encouraged to register, particularly donors of Asian descent.

Natalie’s ethnic background is Japanese, Chinese and Vietnamese.

“There are so many wonderful things to say about Natalie,” said her parents, Grant and Tammy Nakatani. “She is curious, joyful, artistic, a great big sister, intelligent, silly, loves life and loves to be around people. We love her so much that it hurts deeply to even be separated from her at the hospital.

“Our little girl needs an Asian donor match urgently, so please do whatever you can to make it a priority to get tested at the bone marrow drive. There are no matches for Natalie right now. We hope that you will be the special miracle that will save her life.”

Natalie’s hometown drive, hosted by DKMS Americas, will be held on Saturday, Feb. 20, from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. at Gregory Gardens Elementary School, 1 Corritone Ct. in Pleasant Hill.

The UC Berkeley drive (Natalie is a Golden Bear Cub), also hosted by DKMS, will be held Monday, Feb. 22, from 12 to 6 p.m.
on campus at Pauley East, MLK Student Union, Telegraph and Bancroft.

Potential donors must be between the ages of 18 and 55 and in good general health. A cheek swab is taken for tissue typing. A tissue match between donor and patient is more likely if both are of the same racial/ethnic background.

DKMS depends on your dollars to finance the $65 registration cost. To make a donation, visit www.dkmsamericas.org/dkms-donation-form and select code NNC 001.

The DKMS mission is to save lives by recruiting bone marrow donors for leukemia patients. More than 19,000 DKMS donors have helped save lives by donating their marrow. DKMS is the largest and most experienced marrow donor center in the world with more than 2 million registered donors. DKMS Americas is a 501 (c)(3) non- profit organization.

For more information on Natalie’s case, visit www.hopefornatalie.com.

The Alameda-based Asian American Donor Program is also providing assistance. For more information, call (800) 59-DONOR or visit www.aadp.org.