Doreen Flynn
Doreen Flynn is a compelling example of the courage and determination parents must exhibit when their children are struck with a deadly blood disease. Doreen is from Lewiston, Maine, and is a single mother of five children—James, Jordan, Jacob, and twins Jorja and Julia. Jordan, Jorja and Julia have Fanconi anemia, a serious genetic disorder whose sufferers often need a bone marrow transplant in their teens. The Flynns’ story is one of love and tragedy. Jorja and Julia were conceived after Jordan was diagnosed with Fanconi anemia because Doreen desperately hoped they would be able to save their sister’s life someday by providing her with lifesaving marrow. But in a cruel twist, not only were the twins not a match, they too were also born with the same disease. Each of the girls will need a bone marrow transplant one day, and Doreen wants every option on the table to save her daughters. If more bone marrow donors were added to the pool, parents would not have to go to the lengths Doreen did in hopes of saving their children. Although we will never match everyone who needs a donor, adding substantially more donors to the rolls through incentives will without question save lives.