Junie's Journey
By Jackson Day
Published in the Douglas Budget April 10, 2024
On Monday, Feb. 14, 2022, the United States government announced they would be temporarily closing the embassy in Ukraine. With the Russian invasion imminent, some Americans watched anxiously from a world away; others were completely unaware of the rising tensions.
For Tony and Sarah Witbrod, it was a matter of life and death. The couple, who already had six kids, was scheduled to appear before a Ukrainian adoption court to finalize their adoption of two more young ones, Junie and Caius, the next week.
“If we don’t go, there’s two more orphans in the world,” Tony said, recalling the couple’s thoughts at the time. “And then, right on the heels of that epiphany, ‘If we do go, there could be six more orphans in this world.’ But, we knew we had to take that chance and risk whatever we could to bring them home.”
On Friday, Feb. 18, 2022, the couple spoke with a representative from the U.S. State Department. The department had published a level four travel advisory, advising against travel to Ukraine. The representative specifically told the couple that if they traveled to Ukraine and something went wrong, the government would not attempt to rescue them. The next day, the couple boarded a plane.
“We’ve had a lot of loss going through our adoption journey over the years. We knew that if we had a chance to go, we weren’t going to put it off,” Tony said. “We knew how dire the situation was, but we kept saying, ‘If the flights are flying, we’re going.’”
On Tuesday, Feb. 22, 2022, the couple attended the adoption court. On Wednesday, Feb. 23, 2022, the couple walked out of a Ukrainian orphanage carrying their two new children. Junie was 2. Caius was 1.
“We went to bed on the 23rd just thinking, ‘Man, we’re going home tomorrow. We’re going to fly to Poland and make it home. Man, it’s real. It really happened and our kids are coming home with us. It was cloud nine,” Tony said.
Before sunrise, loud, concussive explosions shook the family awake. Russian forces had invaded Ukraine. Almost immediately, flights out of the country were canceled and the family was forced to find a new way home.
A friend named Alex, who had assisted with the adoption process, volunteered to personally drive them nearly 400 miles to Bucharest, Romania, where they would hopefully be able to get a plane to the Warsaw, Poland, U.S. Embassy. At the same time, however, Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy mandated all able-bodied men from 18 to 60 years old were not allowed to leave the country.
“Alex was in his 50s and should not have been able to leave the country,” Tony said. “To get to Romania, Alex had to explain the situation to every person at every checkpoint. He explained that we had just adopted these two kids and he was getting us out. He said that if they’d please let him go, he promised to return. He did that at five or six border crossings, but everyone let Alex through with that promise.”
A number of other miracles eventually led the family to the embassy, Tony said, and the family was eventually able to return home, as safe and sound as they could be after such an ordeal.
BATTLE FOR SURVIVAL
But, for little Junie – the battle for life was only beginning.
In early October 2022, Junie was diagnosed with fanconi anemia, a rare genetic disorder that causes physical abnormalities – such as a small stature – and significantly increases chances of cancer and bone marrow deficiencies. Fanconi Anemia cannot be cured. At the time, although Junie was especially small, she was relatively healthy. But, everyone knew, eventually, the disease would strike.
“Our whole world just revolves around all of our kids and it just really makes you appreciate the time,” Tony said. “We don’t take anything for granted now that we know there’s some clock ticking that nobody can predict.”
Now, Junie’s in the early stages of aplastic anemia, a blood disorder that is characterized by a decreased or non-existent production of all blood cells. The disease can cause fatigue, increased susceptibility to infection and uncontrollable bleeding. If left untreated, it is possible, if not likely, Junie will die. In Junie’s case, aplastic anemia can be cured but only if someone with a matching human leukocyte antigen (HLA) type donates stem cells or bone marrow.
Every individual has numerous HLA proteins, or markers, that determine their HLA type. These markers are inherited, meaning immediate family members present the best chance for a match.
FINDING A MATCH
“Unfortunately, because Junie is adopted, we don’t have a family match and that option’s out. Doing a (donor) drive and getting people registered to donate is really the only way we could find a match,” Junie’s adoptive aunt Kristen Witbrod said.
“So, I researched how to do a donor drive, got all the information and got everything set up. That was my motivation — I wanted to do something.”
Kristen, working with the National Marrow Donor Program (NMDP), also known as Be the Match, organized three donor events in Douglas over the past few weeks. In total, 30 people had their HLA type tested at the drives. At the most recent drive on April 6, only five people were tested. Those tested are added to a national registry and could potentially match with someone other than Junie.
“That’s five more people who could be a match,” Kristen said.
“I really wish that more people would have come, but I am so thankful for the 30 people who have gotten tested and that’s what I want to focus on — the 30 people who came out and found it in their hearts to get tested to be a match for someone that they’ve never met.
“I appreciate every single person who gets tested, whether it’s for Junie or through someone else’s drive. And, if we can never find a match for Junie, but we find a match for someone else, at least that means Junie’s life meant something.”
It will be about four to six weeks before the test results are finalized. If a match is found, the matcher will be asked to donate bone marrow through a relatively simple procedure.
For Junie, it’s far more taxing.
“She’ll get 10 days of chemotherapy and radiation. She’s already like America’s tiniest 4-year old — she’s such a small girl. She wouldn’t even come into it with a full, healthy body,” Tony said.
“And then, we just pray she doesn’t get sick or we hope her body doesn’t reject it. She’d have to spend the next four to five months living in Denver, right there at the hospital or as an outpatient right across the street.
“Then she can’t touch dirt for like a year.”
Even if Junie’s able to find a match and survives a bone marrow transplant, she’s not in the clear.
The Witbrod’s aren’t giving up though.
“After two years, the bone marrow team would say it’s a successful bone marrow transplant. But then you’re sitting there with this astronomically high risk of getting cancer, where chemotherapy is not an option,” Tony said. “She’ll just have check up after check up, waiting for this other shoe to drop — terminal cancer with no cure.”
“It’s the most unfair punch in the gut with another punch in the gut with a kick in the gut.
“The only solace that we can take in this is, Junie would be fighting this alone in the corner of an orphanage, feeling sick. But now, she’s going through it with a family. Nobody deserves to go through this at all, but especially not alone — and as long as we have a chance, we’re going to make sure she doesn’t have to.”
YOU CAN HELP
Although the Douglas donor drives are done, you can still help Junie.
If you would like to test your HLA type and potentially be Junie’s match, you can visit https://my.bethematch.org/juniesjourney
You fill out a brief information form, then a free self-test kit will be sent to you. You’ll swab the inside of your mouth, send it back to the NMDP and four to six weeks later, you’ll receive your results.
Alternatively, the NMDP holds donor drives regularly.
Visit https://bethematch.org/support-the-cause/donate-bone-marrow/join-the-marrow-registry/register-at-a-local-event/ to find a local drive. A drive will be held at the University of Wyoming April 17-18 from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.
In most cases, if someone is a match, they will only be asked to give stem cells, through a process similar to plasma donation, Hansen said. In rarer cases, HLA matches may be asked to donate bone marrow.
“90% of the time the donation process is done through apheresis, where a machine takes their whole blood out, spins it through a centrifuge, collects the stem cells and then gives back all of the red and white blood cells,” Hansen explained.
Because aging negatively impacts stem cells, the NMDP will only accept stem cell and bone marrow donation from people 18 to 40 years old. Kristen suspects this is why a relatively small number of people were tested.
“As we get older, our cells just become less healthy and robust and they don’t replicate as quickly. You know, that’s why skincare and haircare is a multibillion dollar industry, right? Stem cells are no different,” NMDP Member Recruitment Coordinator Sara Rose Hansen said. “The younger and healthier the donor is, the stronger their cells are and the better outcome our patient is going to have. It’s really just about the patient and it’s about their survival rates. The stronger the stem cells are, the better chance that person has at meeting their cancer or disease and surviving.”
You can visit the NMDP website at https://bethematch.org/ to learn more about how you can help, or email Sara Rose Hansen at shansen@nmdp.org for more information about possibly becoming a match for Junie.
Additionally, Tony and Sarah have set up a GoFundMe. Visit JuniesJourney.com to donate.