UPPER EAST SIDE, Manhattan (PIX11) \u2014 A New York City father is making a desperate plea to save his teenage son\u2019s life as he searches for a bone marrow donor.<\/p>\n
Fifteen-year-old Max is living with a rare blood disorder that, if left untreated, could develop into a life-threatening blood cancer.<\/p>\n
Discover more local reporting on our homepage <\/a><\/p>\n \u201cThe doctor said the words that changed our lives, which were \u2018you need to add a transplant doctor to your team,\u201d said Juan Uribe.<\/p>\n Max was just 6-years-old when his blood first told a story no parent wants to hear.<\/p>\n \u201cAll of his blood counts were very low,\u201d said Uribe. \u201cAt that point in time, the doctors felt that maybe he had leukemia, and they did some testing and they ruled that out.\u201d<\/p>\n He added, \u201cUnfortunately, things never quite returned to normal levels, and they were always at the low end of the normal range or below the normal range.\u201d<\/p>\n The only cure is a stem cell transplant, and the only way to get one is to find a bone marrow donor, but Max still doesn\u2019t have a perfect match. Juan said their Latin heritage makes it harder.<\/p>\n \u201cIf you\u2019re a Caucasian, 80 percent chance you\u2019ll find the perfect match donor,\u201d he said. \u201cIf you\u2019re Hispanic, it\u2019s less than 50 percent, if you\u2019re African American, it\u2019s less than 30 percent.\u201d<\/p>\n