‘It’s a miracle:’ Regina boy finds bone marrow match

After more than three years of searching, a Regina boy has found a compatible donor that will allow him to have a life-saving bone marrow transplant.

In October 2015, Vonn Chorneyko was diagnosed with Fanconi anemia, a rare genetic disease which causes bone marrow failure and heightens the risk of developing cancer.

Since then, his family has held a record-breaking One Match bone marrow drive in an effort to find the nine-year-old a donor that’s a perfect match, otherwise known as a genetic twin.

On Wednesday, the FAv (Fanconi anemia Vonn) Foundation, a charity created in honour of Vonn, posted on its social media page that on Feb. 1 a nine out of 10 match was found and he’ll be able to have the long-awaited bone marrow transplant.

“It’s a miracle,” Vonn’s mother, Ashley, said in a video released by the family on Thursday.

“Things were looking really scary for the last few months for us; we didn’t have any options, we didn’t know what we were going to do, and now we have this renewed sense of hope.”

Ashley noted they won’t be able to find out who the donor is until potentially after the procedure.

“One day, if they want to meet us and we want to meet them, we will get that opportunity and that day will be extraordinary,” she said.

Now, the family has to wait until the bone marrow donation is made in the coming months.

From there, Ashley said she anticipates they’ll start making plans to have the transplant down in Minneapolis.