By Kim Baldonado - NBC News 4
A race is underway to save the life of a 60-year-old Latina grandmother who was diagnosed with an aggressive form of leukemia and who is in need of a compatible donor for a blood stem cell transplant.
Maria Bañuelos' children and grandchildren recorded a video in an effort to save her life after the Fillmore, Calif., Resident woman was diagnosed with acute myeloid leukemia in August.
"The shirt says that in this family no one fights alone, so we have been united. She is our cornerstone, she is our rock, she is everything to us," said her daughter Tency Ramírez.
This Mexican mother manages to reunite with her daughter with cancer in the United States
Aug. 29, 201901: 54
Ramírez is the oldest of the five children of Bañuelos.
The matriarch also has six grandchildren and several siblings, but none of them is a compatible donor of the blood stem cells she needs to save her life, and neither is anyone on the Be the Match donor registry.
[They are looking for a bone marrow donor for a 1-year-old Hispanic girl with leukemia]
"We saw it as a blessing that we need to create more awareness in the Hispanic community," said her oldest daughter.
A patient is more likely to be a match with a potential donor of the same ethnicity, but of the more than 22 million people in the donor registry nationwide, only 7% are Latino.
[The incredible case of the Latina patient who defeated COVID-19 thanks to an experimental treatment with stem cells]
Two weeks ago, his family held non-vehicle registration events in Ventura County in California, Texas and Mexico.
More than a thousand people provided a mouth swab that will determine if they are compatible with Bañuelos.
"Our goal is to find someone for my mom and at least 10 other people on the list," explained another of her daughters, Carmen Magana.
[USA. approves a pioneering treatment for children with leukemia]
If you want to know who is the miracle donor that Bañuelos needs, you can send a text message with the word "grandmother" to 61474 and you will receive a link to register.
If supported, all travel and medical expenses will be paid by the 'Be the Match' registry.
Her family says they will give that person all their love and deep gratitude.