Owen Hogan is two and a half years old. He loves trains, music, books, playground swings, and his baby brother Ethan.

Owen also has severe aplastic anemia. He needs your help.

Aplastic anemia is a disorder in which the body stops producing blood cells. It can result in fatigue, easy bruising, poor clotting, and impair the body’s ability to fight infection. Owen’s aplastic anemia is life threatening.

Since his diagnosis in May 2013, Owen Hogan has been through months of immunosuppressive therapy in hopes that his body would start producing adequate blood cells. Unfortunately the therapy did not work. Now Owen’s best chance at surviving his severe aplastic anemia is a bone marrow transplant. If Owen is able to receive a transplant from a perfectly matched donor, his chances of survival are between 80% and 90%.

At this point, a perfect match for Owen has not been located. If Owen’s system becomes too weak to wait for a perfectly matched donor, his doctors will need to use an imperfectly matched donor, at which point Owen’s chance of survival plummets to 40%.

This is where you come in. You could be Owen’s perfect bone marrow match.

Joining the registry is a painless cheek swab you can complete in the comfort of your own home. Read more about the outpatient donation procedure HERE.

Think about it. Pray about it. Talk about it. Do it.

Be a hero for Owen. Join the National Bone Marrow Registry through bethematch.org or deletebloodcancer.org . Find a local Bone Marrow Donor Drive HERE.

You could be the one to save Owen’s life.

**UPDATE 1/14/2014

Owen underwent a peripheral stem cell transplant on January 14, 2014. A perfect match for Owen was not found, however his doctors felt he could not wait any longer for a transplant. Owen’s family is deeply grateful to the individual who is donated his stem cells in a heroic effort to save Owen’s life. At this time we are watching, waiting, and praying for signs that Owen’s body has responded positively to the transplant.

Owen’s family would like to thank everyone from the bottom of their hearts for all of the efforts put forward to find a match for Owen. They encourage everyone to continue to plan drives and spread the word to join the National Bone Marrow Registry. Many more children and adults, including FDNY firefighter Jimmy Martinez, are still waiting for a match to save their lives.