Calgary 'swabbing clinic' seeks South Asian donors for Manitoba toddler with leukemia

A Manitoba father is grateful for the support he's experienced for his toddler son who was diagnosed with leukemia just two months ago and Calgarians he has never met are hoping to collect donor information at a swabbing clinic this weekend.

"It is huge, huge help. I can't even say how big. More than money," Sukhbir Minhas told CBC News on Friday from his home in Brandon.

Minhas says his son Tegveer, only 15 months old, is facing extremely low odds.

• Desperate search for donors for toddlerwith leukemia

"It is really hard to find a match for bone marrow. They say the possibility is one in a million," Minhas said, of finding a donor outside of their South Asian ethnicity.

Hundreds of people have shown up to swabbing clinics in Manitoba, Ontario and Alberta but so far, no donor has been found.

The family did get a ray of hope when an umbilical cord was donated and the stem cells from it might be an option for treatment.

Minhas saysif that procedureis a success, then the swabbing clinics will serve to create a registry of donors for other people in need.

"There are more kids, there are more adults that need bone marrow," he said.

Incredible support

Minhas says the support, especially from people he doesn't know across the country, has been incredible.

"This is something new to me and it's very heartbreaking," Minhas said.

"In eight years, the one good thing that happened to me is my son. I don't know how I can thank those people who I never met who came forward to help us."

Calgarians of South Asian ethnicity are urged to attend the swabbing clinicthis Sunday at the Dashmesh Culture Centre at 135 Martindale Blvd. N.E. between 8 a.m. and 2 p.m.

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