Features Family: The Yokoms

Joshua, Amber, and Jacob

Kelly Ann Yokom and her family first encountered the Sibling Donor Cord Blood Program (SDCB) in early January 1999, when Kelly Ann was eight months pregnant with her third child. Joshua, Kelly Ann’s oldest child, had been diagnosed with variant combined immunodeficiency several months earlier, and his prognosis was poor. As Kelly Ann explains, “[Joshua] was going downhill really fast.” It was a very difficult time for Joshua’s parents and for his little brother, Jacob. Then during an admission to Emmanuel Children’s Hospital in Portland, Ore. Dr. John Pasley spoke with Kelly Ann about saving cord blood and referred her to Renée Smith, supervising nurse midwife of the SDCB Program at Children’s Hospital Oakland Research Institute. Kelly Ann immediately enrolled. One month later Joshua’s sister, Amber, was born. Amber’s cord blood was a perfect genetic match for Joshua, and on Sept. 9, 1999, Joshua underwent a successful cord blood transplant at Doernbecher Children’s Hospital of the Oregon Health Sciences University in Portand. “Joshua is doing fantastic now,” Kelly Ann says. “He looks like a different child in many ways. No bruises all over his body, no dark, red circles around his eyes. His skin color is a golden healthy color now, and he has so much energy. He has a good appetite, too.” Kelly Ann says that she is grateful for the opportunity to collect cord blood through the SDCB Program and that she would “most definitely” encourage other eligible families to enroll in the program. “It’s the way to go. Save the cord blood! It could save a child’s life!”