COMMUNITY CHRONICLE (03/30/03)

COMMUNITY CHRONICLE

Passaic groups help Sylvia, 14, who needs a bone marrow transplant

by Krystyna Duplak

PASSAIC, N.J. - The local Ukrainian Center and the Passaic branches of the Ukrainian American Youth Association (SUM) and the Organization for Lemkivschyna hosted "Sylvia's Brunch for Hope and Blood Drive for Life," here on Sunday, March 16.

The event was successful in raising almost $15,000 for Sylvia Hyra, a 14-year-old girl afflicted with leukemia who is in need of a bone marrow transplant.

Sylvia was born on March 12, 1989, and is the beautiful daughter of Pawel and Teresa, sister of Christian, and granddaughter of Stefan and Maria, as well as loving pal to canine friend Mishu.

The family resides in Clifton, N.J., where Sylvia attends Woodrow Wilson Middle School. She is a member of SUM in Passaic, where she has enjoyed Ukrainian dancing for many years. She also loves children, animals and skiing, and is described as fun-loving, mature, intelligent and laid-back.

Sylvia's battle began in September of 2001, when she was diagnosed with osteosarcoma, a type of bone cancer beneath the knee. This life-threatening cancer occurs in only several hundred patients per year. Sylvia had 12 hours of surgery at Memorial Sloan Kettering (MSK) in New York City to remove the actual tumor. During this surgery, four inches of her leg bone beneath the knee were removed and replaced with donated bone. This bone was inserted and affixed with plates and 13 screws.

Sylvia later required three additional emergency surgical procedures to restore blood flow in her leg. The surgeries were followed by six additional months of chemotherapy and intensive physical therapy. Sylvia was cancer-free in August 2002.

In November 2002 Sylvia was experiencing some abnormal bruising. An immediate visit to MSK confirmed the bad news. Sylvia was afflicted with acute myeloblastic leukemia, a rare side effect of the chemotherapy that was treating her bone cancer. Sylvia's bone marrow had no healthy cells left, and chemotherapy was started immediately to destroy her unhealthy bone marrow. Her leukemia is now in remission, and a bone marrow match has been found for her transplant, which offers the only hope for a cure.

The costs of Sylvia's treatments are staggering, and that is why the Hyra family's friends and relatives have united in an effort to help raise funds. Charitable contributions and support are being solicited from the public in an effort to raise the $100,000 needed to cover Sylvia's medical expenses.

Donations to the Children's Organ Transplant Association may be sent to: "COTA for Sylvia H," 2501 Cota Drive, Bloomington, IN 47403. For more information readers may log on to www.cota.org, click on "Patient Campaigns" and look under patient names beginning with the letter "S" for Sylvia.

Donations may also be sent to: "Sylvia's Hope," c/o Self Reliance New Jersey Federal Credit Union, 851 Allwood Road, P.O. Box 4239, Clifton, NJ 07012-4239.

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