7-year-old Tecumseh girl looking for stem cell match to combat rare blood disease

Zoe Dudzianiec is like any other seven-year-old girl. She likes school and plays the piano. You’d hardly know by looking, but she’s also fighting for her life.

“It is a lot and she's very strong and brave,” said her mother, Heidi Dudzianiec. “The sad part is she doesn't know any better. So she doesn't know what it's like to be a normal child because she's so used to this.”

Zoe has a rare bone marrow failure disorder called Diamond-Blackfan anemia. Only one per cent of the world’s population has it.

In essence, her bone marrow doesn’t produce red blood cells. To manage her condition, her family travels to Sick Kids Hospital in Toronto every 10 days for a blood transfusion.

“She's gotten roughly 300 blood transfusions. She's been poked roughly 4,500 times. And it's gotten so complex to type her blood that now we have to go to Sick Kids [Hospital],” explained Heidi.

Zoe Dudzianiec lies in a hospital bed at Sick Kids Hospital in Toronto. (Source: Heidi Dudzianiec)While the young family works to manage the disorder, the Dudzianiecs are also trying to find a cure.

It’s possible, but she needs a perfect stem-cell match — a literal needle in a hay-stack proposition.

Over the past week, Heidi and a team of friends and volunteers have been hosting swab clinics hoping to find that match.

“Trying to find me a match for my bone marrow transplant,” said Zoe, who understands exactly what she’s going through.

Friday and Saturday of Easter weekend proved to be fruitful days for their efforts at Sunny Britches Acres Farm in Cottam, which was kind enough to partner up with the family.

“We’re hoping to bring families out, to bring anyone out really, to enjoy a day on the farm but also there's an opportunity to pick up a swab kit,” said friend of the family, Amber Gates, who owns event company Magic Moments. “And it's just a simple cheek swab and that could potentially be a match for Zoe or many others like her.”

Gates sensed the allure of meeting the Easter Bunny would bring people out to get swabbed, and she was right.

“We had well over 500 people come through for this [on Friday alone], which is overwhelming in the very best way of course, because that's what we need. We need people,” said Gates, noting the Saturday event brought close to another 1,000 people out to the Cottam farm.

“Zoe’s got a little army. So we keep trying to add to our army so it can get bigger and bigger,” said Heidi. “I means a lot, because it means people really do care.”

She added, “It gives you like a sense of community because we live here but you don't really know the power of your community until you see something like that.”

The family plans to hold more swabbing events in the near future as Zoe approaches her eighth birthday this May.

“So Zoe can go back to being like a normal eight year old,” she said.