Efforts continue to seek donor match for Brylee
Photo courtesy of TAMC
PERSONAL THANK YOU — Debby Page (at left), grandmother of 2-month-old Brylee Ann-Marie Gagnon, thanks Sgt. G. Austin Churchill of the Maine Army National Guard for taking the time to join the Be The Match Registry®. Churchill was among the 176 community members who turned out Oct. 21 at a marrow donor registry drive at TAMC’s North Street Health Care facility. Members of the family personally thanked each prospective donor as they came through the doors. Pictured with Page are Brylee’s sisters Cheyenne and Jocelyn.
By Kathy McCarty
Staff Writer
PRESQUE ISLE — Fund-raising efforts continue later this month for 2-month-old Brylee Ann-Marie Gagnon, who was diagnosed shortly after birth with a life-threatening disorder.
“We have finalized plans for a benefit dinner/silent auction/dance for Brylee. It will be Saturday, Nov. 23, at the Presque Isle Inn & Convention Center,” said her grandmother, Debby Page.
Page said the dinner and silent auction will go from 4-7 p.m., with the dance from 8-11 p.m.
“Donations are welcome. Door prizes will be presented throughout the evening,” said Page.
Over 175 County residents joined members of the The Aroostook Medical Center team at the North Street Health Care facility to support Brylee’s family. TAMC partnered with the national organization, Be The Match, to hold the local drive, held on Oct. 21, in hopes of helping find a match for a life-saving bone marrow transplant.
Goals for the event included raising awareness about the need for marrow donors and to perhaps find a matching donor for the infant and many other patients. A steady flow of area residents age 18-44 entered TAMC’s North Street facility this past Monday, taking the first step in potentially saving a life. College students, young families, relatives of the family, and TAMC employees were all among the staggering group who showed up to donate.
“I had hoped to draw around 50 new donor registrants. I am thrilled that we more than tripled that goal,” said Paul Greenier of Be The Match.
Greenier said patients are most likely to match someone of their own race or ethnicity, and doctors request donors in the 18-44 age group more than 90 percent of the time. He was on hand at all times performing screenings and swabs with over a dozen TAMC volunteers to enter County residents in the registry.
According to Sherry Beaulieu, who coordinated the volunteer effort at the bone marrow drive for TAMC, the results from this drive, and a similar one hosted by TAMC in 2011, have resulted in 316 new donors added to the Be The Match Registry®.
Brylee was born at TAMC’s A.R. Gould Memorial Hospital on Aug. 8 to Shandi Page and Chad Gagnon of Presque Isle. When she was 10 days old, she was rushed back to the Presque Isle hospital with a fever of 104 degrees. From there, she was taken by LifeFlight to Eastern Maine Medical Center, where she spent nearly a week in the neonatal intensive care unit. It was there doctors determined Brylee had a serious infection in her blood and gastrointestinal tract.
The infant was transferred to Portland where she met with a pediatric gastroenterologist. She spent the next month in the hospital to be certain the infection was completely gone. It was during her hospitalization that doctors diagnosed Brylee with leukocyte adhesion deficiency, a rare disorder that affects the body’s immune system.
According to the family, doctors have given Brylee an 80 percent chance of recovery if she gets a transplant. So far, no donor has been found.
To help in their efforts, family members and friends contacted Be The Match to come to the area to hold a drive, and to TAMC to serve as host.
Brylee’s grandmother, grandfather, mother and two sisters greeted and thanked each potential donor who walked through the doors at the North Street clinic for reaching out to a community family in a time of crisis.
“The people of Aroostook County have been so willing to help Brylee and our family during this difficult time,” said Page. “This truly is a community, and we are so grateful for all of the support and prayers that have been offered. We are both overwhelmed by the turnout and support, and very appreciative to TAMC and Be The Match for hosting this donor drive, and we pray a suitable match can be found for our little girl. Thank you to everyone who helped make this possible.”
