15-year-old girl with cancer finds much needed bone marrow match

A 15-year-old New Jersey girl with cancer got some incredible and almost unbelievable good news: all five of her siblings are a match for her needed bone marrow transplant.

Her name is Morgan Hewitt and she and her family are from Franklin in Hunterdon County. In September, she was diagnosed with acute myeloid leukemia and started undergoing chemotherapy.

Doctors determined that a bone marrow transplant would help her, so her siblings all volunteered to be tested to be donors; they were told that there was a 25% chance that any of them would be a match for Morgan and to everyone’s surprise, all five were!

Brothers Ian, 17; Kurtis, 25; Colin, 29; Andrew, 30; and sister Justine, 28 are now consulting with doctors on how to proceed with the transplant. According to CBS 2 New York, doctors have determined that Ian is probably the best match.

Morgan told NJ.com the support she’s received has made her optimistic about her recovery.

“I have more hope that I will survive and get through it because of my family and my friends sticking by my side through every second of the day,” Morgan said. “That just gives me positivity.”

She and her family hope that her story will inspire others to sign up to be donors; you can do so here:
• Click here to visit Be The Match.
• Click here to visit Gift Of Life.

Morgan will be celebrating her 16th birthday in the hospital and her family is encouraging people to send her a card if they can; the address is:

Children’s Hospital Of Philadelphia
3401 Civic Center Blvd.
Philadelphia, PA 19104
Attn. Morgan Hewitt

You can also donate to the GoFundMe made in her name here.

The post above reflects the thoughts and observations of New Jersey 101.5 talk show host Bill Doyle. Any opinions expressed are Bill Doyle's own.