For leukemia patients like Kenza Durani, the medical deck is significantly stacked against them to even get a shot at receiving a life-saving bone marrow transplant.
There are more than 700,000 people on the national donor registry. Kenza is of South Asian ethnicity, so for her, the odds of finding a match are very long.
"Only, I believe it's 3%, are of South Asian/Middle Eastern decent," Sheba Siddiqi, Kenza's aunt said.
Finding a donor with similar heritage will be tough, but not impossible. Haneen Odeh donated her bone marrow to someone in Colombia a couple of years ago.
"Total stranger, I have no idea who they are, but I do know they are doing well and that the transplant worked and that's all I can hope for," Odeh said.
And now she's hoping to do the same for Kenza. Haneen, along with the baby's aunts and cousins who live here in the greater Phoenix area, are bringing the donor message to the Islamic community with the "Cure for Kenza" campaign.
So, along with a lot of prayers at local mosques, family and friends are counting on members -- especially those with South Asian ethnicity -- to sign up, provide a swab sample and give a family and a little girl the hope she needs for a healthy life.
"You could be a match. You could be that person who can help that child or anyone," Farida Saleh said after signing onto the national registry.
"[A Cure for Kenza] is being held in Pennsylvania, Oklahoma City, New York, California," Siddiqi said. "It has been going on for the past couple of weeks. [We are] Hoping that we'll find a match for her, but also help other people in need."
Organizers for Friday's drive added 18 people to the national registry. And they say the "Cure for Kenza" campaign has added 1,400 people across the country.
You can find out more here: https://www.facebook.com/CureKenza/?fref=nf