1:21
Just before Mother's Day, the three moms and one more, Tara Forrest, of Boston, whose 14-year-old daughter Ali Pantoja is battling acute myeloid leukemia, met on Zoom for the first time after spending weeks connecting by phone, texts and social media.
\"You instantly have a connection with them because you feel the pain and desperation,\" said Havard. \"It’s just amazing to be able to talk to somebody who actually knows what you’re feeling on the inside.\"
\"Other people can be sympathetic but they can’t be empathetic because they’re not quite walking in my shoes,\" said Haden. \"To have other moms or dads who understand, it's definitely vital. It means the world to us to be able to connect.\"
All four moms are working with DKMS to recruit bone marrow donors for their daughters.
![\"PHOTO:](\"http://a.abcnews.com/images/GMA/mom-2-ht-er-210507_1620415870228_hpMain_4x3t_384.jpg\")
\"It truly is all consuming,\" Havard said of the search for a donor. \"The focus is on your child and their future. Knowing that their future lies in a stranger’s hand, your mindset then goes to what can I do to get this story out, to get people to swab their cheek and get on the donor list to save a life?\"
Only around 30% of patients are able to find a compatible bone marrow donor in their family, according to DKMS co-founder and chairwoman Katharina Harf, whose family started the nonprofit when Harf's mother died of leukemia after not being able to find a bone marrow donor match.
Each year in the United States, around 18,000 people are diagnosed with life-threatening illnesses where a bone marrow transplant or umbilical cord blood transplant is their best treatment option, according to the U.S. Health Resources and Service Administration (HRSA).
![\"PHOTO:](\"http://a.abcnews.com/images/GMA/Destiny-6-ht-er-210507_1620417851660_hpEmbed_3x4_384.jpg\")
All it takes to join the bone marrow registry is to request a swab kit, which DKMS offers online, and to swab the inside of your cheeks.
If a person is found to be a match, in most cases, the process of donating their bone marrow or stem cell is an outpatient procedure and one that does not require surgery, according to Harf.
\"You’re giving a second chance at life to a person,\" said Harf. \"A lot of our patients really celebrate the day they receive the stem cells as a second birthday.\"
Van Sciver said she and the moms she has met while searching for cures for their daughters may come from different backgrounds and have different stories but they are all just \"moms asking for help.\"
![\"PHOTO:](\"http://a.abcnews.com/images/GMA/destiny-3-ht-er-210507_1620417381955_hpEmbed_9x16_384.jpg\")
\"I really hope that people hear this message and want to get out and make a difference,\" she said. \"One person would make a difference.\"
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