Would you save the life of someone who discarded you as a baby? It's a question many were left pondering, after a teenager shared his predicament. The 17-year-old was taken away from his parents as a newborn, and ended up in foster care. He never heard from, nor met, his biological parents... until now.
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He's told how they hired a private investigator to track him down. And while many might think it was done out of love, that's not the case. The teen says his bio dad is gravely ill, and is demanding that the son he never knew donates bone marrow to save him. When he refused, things got so wild that the police had to be called.
He was taken away from his parents when he was an infant and ended up in foster care
Image credits: Maria Lysenko / Unsplash (not the actual photo)
After 17 years of silence, his bio parents tracked him down and demanded his bone marrow to save his dad
He reiterated that he hadn't seen his bio parents in 17 years, and gave more info on his adoption
Image credits: Getty Images / Unsplash (not the actual photo)
"Bunch of hypocrites": He clarified some points and put certain people on their place
Image credit: Anonymous
Many were shocked at the biological parents' audacity, and agreed that the teen should refuse
Some people felt he should donate his bone marrow
"Still sitting in a prison cell": In a long-awaited update, the teen told how things had gotten wild
He later revealed that maybe his bio dad was after something else, not the bone marrow
Image credits: Nguyễn Hiệp / Unsplash (not the actual photo)
Here's what the teen would have had to do had he agreed to be a donor
A bone marrow transplant can be a life-saving procedure that cures some diseases and puts others into remission. But it’s also very risky.
According to Stanford University’s experts, 10% to 20% of bone marrow transplant patients pass away due to complications. These include severe infections, graft-versus-host disease, and organ damage.
"Bone marrow transplantation is so dangerous and so toxic that it is reserved for people with life-threatening diseases," they say. "Despite the dangers of a transplant, including rejection of the new, disease-free cells in the transplanted tissue, more than 50,000 patients get bone marrow transplants each year."
Many take the risk because it's the only curative treatment possible for patients with inherited disorders of blood formation; for immunodeficiencies such as severe combined immunodeficiency disease (SCID); and for many types of cancer, they add.
Before a transplant can take place, bone marrow needs to be donated or harvested. Around 30% of transplant patients find a matching donor in their immediate family. The rest must rely on finding a match from someone else.
“To do the procedure, healthcare providers use large hollow needles that pull bone marrow from donors’ hips (pelvic bones),” reveals the Cleveland Clinic site, adding that while it may sound painful, it doesn’t hurt. That’s because the procedure is done under anesthetic.
The entire procedure typically take about an hour. You’ll lie on your stomach in the operating room during the procedure, and doctors will insert a tube in your throat to help you breathe. They'll then place a special needle through your skin into the narrow cavity of your hipbone. This may have to be done several times to collect enough bone marrow.
According to the Cleveland Clinic site, hipbones are chosen because they contain the most marrow and the largest number of healthy stem cells.
"They’ll collect about 1 to 2 pints of liquid bone marrow," reveals the site. "This may sound like a lot of bone marrow but it’s only about 10% of all of your marrow cells."
In some cases, the medical team may also take red blood cells as part of the procedure. You'll get these back once you’re in the recovery room.
You should be able to return to work and other normal activities after resting for a few days. However, Cleveland's experts say it can take a few weeks before bone marrow donors completely recover from the procedure.
"Can I have a kidney?": many agreed the biological parents were more than a little unhinged
