Family pleads for help as teen faces life-threatening bone marrow failure

A New York City begetter is desperately seeking a donor to prevention his teenage son’s life.

Max Uribe, present 15 and a high-school freshman, has conscionable weeks until helium volition request to beryllium hospitalized with a uncommon humor upset that could pb to a deadly cancer.

"Max was conscionable 6 erstwhile we archetypal noticed determination was thing incorrect with his humor counts," his father, Juan Uribe, told Fox News Digital. "At the time, we thought it was owed to a viral infection, but they ne'er afloat recovered backmost to their mean level."

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In December 2024, Max’s information grew worse, and helium was diagnosed with clonal cytopenia, a information involving the humor and bony marrow.

"All 3 of his humor counts are debased — red, achromatic and platelets," Uribe said. 

Max Uribe, pictured with his parents and sister, is successful urgent request of a stem compartment transplant to prevention his life. (Uribe Family)

In August 2025, different bony marrow biopsy revealed that Max is connected a way to bony marrow failure, creating an urgent request for a stem compartment transplant.

"The illness has continued to progress, arsenic his humor counts proceed to drop, and therefore, we person to instrumentality him to transplant successful May of this year," Uribe said.

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If near untreated, Max’s information could pb to MDS (myelodysplastic syndrome), a benignant of humor cancer, and from determination perchance into acute myeloid leukemia (AML).

A bony marrow lucifer indispensable person a circumstantial benignant of HLA (human leukocyte antigen), which are proteins recovered connected the aboveground of astir cells successful the body, according to the National Marrow Donor Program (NMDP).

Max Uribe, pictured with his parents, volition beryllium hospitalized for a transplant successful May, arsenic his humor number has been steadily decreasing. (Uribe Family)

The person the donor’s HLA markers are to the patient’s, the much apt the assemblage volition judge the caller cells without a precocious hazard of complications.

People from the aforesaid taste inheritance are much apt to stock akin HLA types, meaning a diligent is astir apt to find a compatible donor among individuals with akin ancestry, per the NMDP.

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Non-Hispanic White patients person a 79% accidental of a cleanable match. That drops to 49% for Hispanic/Latino patients, 29% for Black patients and adjacent little for mixed ancestries, the NMDP reports.

Because Max is simply a "very uncommon combination" of half-Colombian from his begetter and a premix of Italian, British and German from his mother, his way to a cleanable lucifer is proving overmuch much difficult, Uribe noted.

"For a kid similar Max, with complex, mixed heritage, the mathematics is devastating."

"For a kid similar Max, with complex, mixed heritage, the mathematics is devastating," helium said. "The reasoning is, we request ample numbers if we're going to person that cleanable lucifer for my son."

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Max, who participates successful competitory tennis and varsity wrestling, conscionable had further humor enactment done connected Friday, which revealed that his counts proceed to plummet.

"We're astatine the constituent wherever this is opening to manifest a spot more, which is wherefore the urgency is truthful critical," Uribe said.

Because Max is simply a "very uncommon combination" of half-Colombian from his begetter and a premix of Italian, British and German from his mother, his way to a cleanable lucifer is proving overmuch much difficult. (Uribe Family)

If a donor is not secured by Max's hospitalization successful May, the aesculapian squad volition person to proceed with a partial match, which is not perfect for a fig of reasons.

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"The endurance complaint is meaningfully little with a partial match, and there's much hazard of graft versus big illness (GVHD), which could pb to complications successful the process," Uribe said. With GVHD, the donor cells statesman to onslaught the body.

Max Uribe, an progressive athlete, is connected a way to bony marrow failure, requiring a stem compartment transplant. (Uribe Family)

To assistance forestall this with a partial match, Max would apt request chemotherapy and immunosuppressants for a longer play of time, which could weaken his immune system.

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Anyone funny successful donating tin bid a escaped trial kit connected the Team Max website. The kit includes a speedy feature swab that is sent backmost to the laboratory to find whether idiosyncratic is simply a match.