\"It just went mad,\" Al Shaikh said Tuesday of the post spreading over social media. \"It’s gone just absolutely viral.\"

The post has been retweeted more than 12,000 times and the hashtag #Match4Zara has gone viral, with many people writing in to ask how they can take join the registry. Al Shaikh said officials at one bone marrow registry told him they had a \"twelve fold\" increase in the number of people who signed up in a single day, after the tweet went viral.

While Zara is still without a match, Al Shaikh said he's hopeful because so many people have reached out to join the registry to see if they can help her.

\"People are answering the call, so social media is doing its thing,\" he told ABC News. \"These are regular folk and it makes you believe in humanity.\"

Zara is currently undergoing chemotherapy so that doctors can perform a bone marrow transplant once they find a donor.

Despite the illness, Al Shaikh said his daughter is like any other teenager and even used her cancer treatment as an excuse to dye her hair blue.

\"Zara, she’s very popular but shy,\" Al Shaikh said. \"She loves what a 13-year-old loves. She shocked us when she wanted to dye her hair blue. She said, 'But Daddy, I’m only going to lose it and I love it.'\"

","canonicalUrl":"https://abcnews.com/Health/cancer-stricken-teens-plea-rare-bone-marrow-donor/story?id=36999795","legacySlug":"/wellness/story/cancer-stricken-teens-plea-rare-bone-marrow-donor-36999795","noIndexNoFollow":false},"publishTime":"18:07","publishDate":"02-17-2016","updatedTime":"17:48","updatedDate":"02-18-2016","socialImage":{"alt":"A plea for bone marrow donors has gone viral after Zara Al Shaikh sent out a twitter message earlier this month. ","credit":"Match4Zara/Twitter","ratio":"16x9","url":"https://s.abcnews.com/images/Health/HT_Zara_Donor_ER_160217_16x9_1600.jpg","width":992,"height":558},"datePublished":"2/17/2016 18:07:42 GMT","video":{"live":false,"id":36999795,"headline":"Cancer-Stricken Teen's Plea for Rare Donor Goes Viral","mediaAssetTitle":"MOHNEY_Twitter_Viral_160217","description":"Zarah Al Shaikh's bircial ethnicity may make it difficult to find a donor.","duration":"NaN:NaN","posterImg":{"url":"https://s.abcnews.com/images/GMA/default-img-undefined.png","width":608,"height":342},"video":{},"playlist":["133741861","133707237","133144263"]},"relatedItems":[{"contentType":"video","date":"June 10, 2026","headline":"NASA unveils Artemis III crew","section":"News","slug":"/video/133741861","id":"133741861","image":{"alt":"VIDEO: NASA unveils Artemis III crew","credit":"ABCNews.com","ratio":"1x1","url":"https://s.abcnews.com/images/GMA/260610_gma_benitez_artemis_715_hpMain_1x1_608.jpg","width":384,"height":384},"images":{"alt":"VIDEO: NASA unveils Artemis III crew","credit":"ABCNews.com","crops":[{"16x9":{"small":"https://s.abcnews.com/images/GMA/260610_gma_benitez_artemis_715_hpMain_16x9_608.jpg","medium":"https://s.abcnews.com/images/GMA/260610_gma_benitez_artemis_715_hpMain_16x9_992.jpg","large":"https://s.abcnews.com/images/GMA/260610_gma_benitez_artemis_715_hpMain_16x9_1600.jpg"}},{"9x16":{"small":"https://s.abcnews.com/images/GMA/260610_gma_benitez_artemis_715_hpMain_9x16_608.jpg","medium":"https://s.abcnews.com/images/GMA/260610_gma_benitez_artemis_715_hpMain_9x16_992.jpg","large":"https://s.abcnews.com/images/GMA/260610_gma_benitez_artemis_715_hpMain_16x9_1600.jpg"}},{"1x1":{"small":"https://s.abcnews.com/images/GMA/260610_gma_benitez_artemis_715_hpMain_1x1_608.jpg","medium":"https://s.abcnews.com/images/GMA/260610_gma_benitez_artemis_715_hpMain_1x1_992.jpg","large":"https://s.abcnews.com/images/GMA/260610_gma_benitez_artemis_715_hpMain_1x1_1600.jpg"}}]}},{"contentType":"video","date":"June 9, 2026","headline":"Flash flood threat as dangerous weather on the move","section":"News","slug":"/video/133707237","id":"133707237","image":{"alt":"VIDEO: Flash flood threat as dangerous weather on the move","credit":"ABCNews.com","ratio":"1x1","url":"https://s.abcnews.com/images/GMA/260609_gma_zee_weather1_707_hpMain_1x1_608.jpg","width":384,"height":384},"images":{"alt":"VIDEO: Flash flood threat as dangerous weather on the move","credit":"ABCNews.com","crops":[{"16x9":{"small":"https://s.abcnews.com/images/GMA/260609_gma_zee_weather1_707_hpMain_16x9_608.jpg","medium":"https://s.abcnews.com/images/GMA/260609_gma_zee_weather1_707_hpMain_16x9_992.jpg","large":"https://s.abcnews.com/images/GMA/260609_gma_zee_weather1_707_hpMain_16x9_1600.jpg"}},{"9x16":{"small":"https://s.abcnews.com/images/GMA/260609_gma_zee_weather1_707_hpMain_9x16_608.jpg","medium":"https://s.abcnews.com/images/GMA/260609_gma_zee_weather1_707_hpMain_9x16_992.jpg","large":"https://s.abcnews.com/images/GMA/260609_gma_zee_weather1_707_hpMain_16x9_1600.jpg"}},{"1x1":{"small":"https://s.abcnews.com/images/GMA/260609_gma_zee_weather1_707_hpMain_1x1_608.jpg","medium":"https://s.abcnews.com/images/GMA/260609_gma_zee_weather1_707_hpMain_1x1_992.jpg","large":"https://s.abcnews.com/images/GMA/260609_gma_zee_weather1_707_hpMain_1x1_1600.jpg"}}]}},{"contentType":"video","date":"May 20, 2026","headline":"Fashion mogul’s son arrested in father’s fatal fall","section":"News","slug":"/video/133144263","id":"133144263","image":{"alt":"VIDEO: Fashion mogul’s son arrested in father’s fatal fall","credit":"ABCNews.com","ratio":"1x1","url":"https://s.abcnews.com/images/GMA/260520_gma_ally_fall3_732_hpMain_1x1_608.jpg","width":384,"height":384},"images":{"alt":"VIDEO: Fashion mogul’s son arrested in father’s fatal fall","credit":"ABCNews.com","crops":[{"16x9":{"small":"https://s.abcnews.com/images/GMA/260520_gma_ally_fall3_732_hpMain_16x9_608.jpg","medium":"https://s.abcnews.com/images/GMA/260520_gma_ally_fall3_732_hpMain_16x9_992.jpg","large":"https://s.abcnews.com/images/GMA/260520_gma_ally_fall3_732_hpMain_16x9_1600.jpg"}},{"9x16":{"small":"https://s.abcnews.com/images/GMA/260520_gma_ally_fall3_732_hpMain_9x16_608.jpg","medium":"https://s.abcnews.com/images/GMA/260520_gma_ally_fall3_732_hpMain_9x16_992.jpg","large":"https://s.abcnews.com/images/GMA/260520_gma_ally_fall3_732_hpMain_16x9_1600.jpg"}},{"1x1":{"small":"https://s.abcnews.com/images/GMA/260520_gma_ally_fall3_732_hpMain_1x1_608.jpg","medium":"https://s.abcnews.com/images/GMA/260520_gma_ally_fall3_732_hpMain_1x1_992.jpg","large":"https://s.abcnews.com/images/GMA/260520_gma_ally_fall3_732_hpMain_1x1_1600.jpg"}}]}}],"relatedContentSection":"news","schemaContent":{"name":"Cancer-Stricken Teen's Plea for Rare Donor Goes Viral","description":"Zarah Al Shaikh's bircial ethnicity may make it difficult to find a donor.","duration":"NaN:NaN","uploadDate":"02-17-2016","publication":"02-17-2016","images":"https://s.abcnews.com/images/GMA/default-img-undefined.png","link":"https://www.goodmorningamerica.com/news/story/cancer-stricken-teens-plea-rare-bone-marrow-donor-36999795"}},"playlist":[{"id":"133810954","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"133779647","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"133810835","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"133749799","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"133777519","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"133748258","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"133730535","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"133712423","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"133694181","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"133688738","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"133616358","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"133616342","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"133522899","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"133584123","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"133579397","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"133482839","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"133390157","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"133415361","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"133414032","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"133380485","contentType":"story","section":"news"}],"kvps":{"pgtyp":"article","lang":"en","sp":"goodmorningamerica","programmatic":"true","bundleId":"com.abcnews"}},"analytics":{"accountID":"wdgnewwdgnewgmaweb","ns":"gma","pageName":"gma:news:video","pageType":"video","globalSpecVersion":"v1.08","siteDifferentiator":"gma:site","tagID":"g_page01","userABCookie":"0","section":"news","title":"Cancer-Stricken Teen's Plea for Rare Donor Goes Viral","pubTime":"13:07","pubDate":"02-17-2016","modTime":"12:48","modDate":"02-18-2016","taxonomyTags":"none","id":36999795,"editorialOtherSubjects":"","wordCount":"none","columns":"none","authors":"","authorsUnit":"none","authorsBureau":"none","subBrand":"Good Morning America","provider":"Good Morning America","videoName":"Cancer-Stricken Teen's Plea for Rare Donor Goes Viral","mediaAssetTitle":"MOHNEY_Twitter_Viral_160217","videoId":36999795,"mediaOnPage":"video","legacySlug":"/wellness/story/cancer-stricken-teens-plea-rare-bone-marrow-donor-36999795"},"taboola":{}},"request":{"headers":{},"httpVersion":"1.1","method":"GET","url":"/video/36999795","vary":{"host":"www.goodmorningamerica.com","cached":true,"path":"/video/36999795","forwarded-proto":"https","device":"desktop","userab":"0"}},"viewport":{"width":1260,"height":0},"user":{}};