‘I just need that one person;’ Roscoe baby in need of a life-saving bone marrow transplant

ROCKFORD, Ill. (WIFR) - It’s an unimaginable scenario for every parent, and one that Ashley Chronister never thought she’d be living, after her baby girl Isla, was brought into the world three weeks ago.

“She was small, but she looked, otherwise, very healthy,” said Chronister. But a call from doctors just days after Isla’s birth, said otherwise. Isla had a rare and deadly autoimmune disorder.

“Essentially she doesn’t have an immune system,” said Chronister. “She was born without an immune system.”

The diagnosis began the start of a very long road for Isla and her family, and one they’d have to endure seperately. As Chronister’s husband, Rob, is staying with the newborn undergoing treatment in Chicago, the Roscoe mother of three, is taking care of her other kids at home.

“My kids have been great, very supportive,” said Chronister. “I can’t hold her and that’s really hard.”

Chronister says her only hope, is that Isla gets her one and only chance at survival, a bone marrow transplant.

“Doctors said she needs that surgery before she’s three and half months old,” said Chronister. “That would save her.”

That’s why Chronister is on a mission to find a match, but needs our help. No one in the family of five is a match with Isla, so shes calling on the community to join the bone marrow donor registry, linked here, to give her daughter a fighting chance at life.

“I just need that one person,” said Chronister. “This could be the difference between my daughter... between my daughter living, and dying.”

Chronister says the process of getting registered is simple. It includes a mail in kit with an at home mouth swab, so you can do it from the comfort of your living room, and send it back.

“You just swab the side of you cheek,” said Chronister. “You send it back to the organization, and if you are a match or anyone else, the organization will reach out to you.”

Chronister says even if it’s not a match with Isla, it could be a saving grace for others.

However in Isla’s case, it’s life or death. “There’s no other option,” said Chronister.

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