Oneida community rallies around 16 year old

By Olivia Coffin

Contributing Writer

ONEIDA NATION – “Tyler,” 16, was diagnosed with a life-threatening blood cancer in 2023.

After spending nine months in a hospital facing chemo treatment Tyler needs a stem cell donation.

Stem cell donation is a medical process where stem cells, which are undifferentiated cells capable of developing into various types of specialized cells, are collected and given to a patient in need.

When a patient receives a blood stem cell transplant, the donor’s healthy cells travel to the patient’s bone marrow and start producing new cells.

These new cells enter the patient’s bloodstream, replacing the diseased cells.

Oneida Comprehensive Health Division (OCHD) provides a range of healthcare services for members of the Oneida Nation, their descendants and surrounding Tribes.

Their team of professional healthcare providers believes in a “holistic and culturally-sensitive” approach to care.

They offer medical, dental and optical care in addition to community health, behavioral health, pharmacy, nutrition and health promotion/disease prevention services.

The National Marrow Donor Program (NMPD) is a non-profit leader in cell therapy.

For patients diagnosed with leukemia, lymphoma and other life-threatening diseases, a bone marrow or cord blood transplant may be their best or only hope for a cure.

“70% of patients who need a transplant do not have a fully matched donor in their family. People depend on NMDP to find a match to save their lives. Every year 18,000 patients are diagnosed with life-threatening blood cancers or other blood disorders that could be cured or treated with a blood stem cell transplant,” said Keesha Mason with the NMDP.

On Aug. 2, the Oneida Community Health Center held a stem cell match event in hopes of finding a match for Tyler.

“Cancer does not fight fairly and affects everyone. It will take the entire community to come together to fight for a cure for Tyler. His only hope for a cure is to find a stem cell donor and his best chance comes from another Oneida between the ages of 18 and 35,” said Mason.

Tyler was diagnosed with cancer and was in remission when his cancer came back.

“He has a very aggressive form of cancer. The doctors have said he needs a bone marrow transplant. Tyler is going through chemo radiation and this tribe has been so amazing. It moved me to tears, we called them and shared Tyler’s story. The tribe has made so many phone calls, brought the community elders in and we did a smudging ceremony this morning. I’ve never seen a community that embraces someone who has no more options and isn’t their own, treat them as their own, it’s just beautiful.” Mason continued.

If you can’t make it to a center you can register for a swab kit to be mailed to your house for you to complete and return.

You can visit https://my.bethematch.org/ONEIDA4TYLER or text ONEIDA4TYLER to 61474 to see if you are a match specifically for Tyler.

To learn more about stem cell donation through NMDP, visit https://oneida-nsn.gov/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/About-NMDP-and-How-We-Save-Lives-1.pdf.