TAMPA, Fla. — A dad has joined social media to make a plea to save his 15-year-old's life.
Juan Uribe joined TikTok just to share his son's story. His son, Max, has a rare blood disorder that may soon turn into a deadly blood cancer.
WATCH: Dad joins TikTok to find stem cell match for 15-year-old son
He needs to find a stem cell donor.
"My son has a very rare blood disorder that, if it's not treated with a stem cell transplant in the next few months, it will develop into MDS or AML, which are forms of blood cancer and are very deadly," he said on the TikTok video.
Juan also shared his son's story on Facebook and Instagram.
"Ultimately it was kind of desperation, three weeks ago, we learned that we didn’t have the perfect match donors that we thought we had. I said what’s the quickest way to reach the most number of people, and so that's what led me to open up accounts on TikTok, Facebook, Instagram and all of that," said Juan.
Juan's plea went viral and the video has millions of views.
His son's story has reached athletes and celebrities.
"We had Shakira share the story on her Instagram stories. We’ve had people like Joe Jonas. We’ve had people like Meghan Trainor. We’ve had Isaac Rochell was one of the first to reshare, repost the story," he said.
"I am so grateful to every single one of them, even those that only have 10 followers that have been reposting. It’s really unbelievable how kind and generous people have been with that and how generous people have been, written messages of support and love and prayer."
Juan said his son loves playing school sports, including soccer, wrestling and tennis.
He also enjoys playing the piano and making music, which can be found on Spotify.
Max has a twin named Sophie.
"His sister is not a perfect match, unfortunately," said Juan.
Juan said finding a matching donor for Max is especially difficult due to Max's mixed ethnicity, which includes 50% Colombian. Typically, the best donor match is someone who shares a patient's ethnic background. Juan explains who is most likely the perfect match for his son.
"The perfect match is likely to be in populations with Afro-Latino heritage, so you can imagine people that have Colombian heritage, Brazilian, Puerto Rican, Dominican, Cuban, but with European ancestry as well, so it’s like that mix that we're looking for," he said.
Since Juan's viral video, the NMDP, formerly known as "Be the Match," has had 33,000 people request a kit to see if they're a potential match for Max, but more potential donors are needed. Juan encourages everyone to request a kit from the NMDP.
"The clock is ticking, We have to move to transplant in mid-May, potentially sooner if things were to go even worse, and we need to maximize the number of new donors we add to the registry," said Juan.
Patients with diverse ethnic backgrounds have a harder time finding a matching donor since minorities are underrepresented in the national stem cell registries.
The process to become a potential match is simple.
"You’ll have an envelope that comes to your home, two swabs. You’ll swab the inside of each cheek, that’s collecting the cells on the inside of your cheek," said Erica Sevilla, Public Relations Manager at NMDP.
To learn more about the process to become a potential donor, click here.
To see if you're a potential match to save Max's life, click here.
@jpu307 Posting in hopes someone may be a stem cell match for my son. Due to the decrease in Latino stem cell collection, we only have a few months left to find a match. Please consider registering at the link in bio to see if you are a match. #StemCellDonation #SaveALife #LatinoCommunity ♬ original sound - Juan Uribe
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