Hope For Harper: Illawarra Football Community Rallies To Find A Life-Saving Match

The Illawarra football community is being called on to rally behind 13-year-old Illawarra Stingrays player Harper Patterson, who is urgently searching for a matching stem cell donor this Sunday at Lakelands Oval, Dapto.

Harper, who plays in the Stingrays’ Under 14s, is living with chronic granulomatous disease (CGD), a rare inherited immune disorder that leaves her highly vulnerable to serious bacterial and fungal infections.

A stem cell transplant could potentially cure Harper’s condition, but finding a suitable donor match is extremely difficult.

Now, her football club is calling on the Illawarra community to help give Harper and others waiting for a donor match the best possible chance.

The Hope for Harper Donor Day will be held at Lakelands Oval in Dapto on Sunday 16 August from 8am to 5pm, with eligible people aged between 17 and 35 encouraged to attend and consider joining the Australian Stem Cell Donor Registry.

Hope for Harper Donor Day
Sunday 16 August, 8am–5pm
Lakelands Oval, Dapto

Eligible people aged 17–35 can pre-register to save time on the day.

Pre-register: www.stemcelldonors.org.au/appeal/harper 

For more information about eligibility and the donor process, visit Stem Cell Donors Australia or follow the Register for Harper Instagram page.

Come on Rays. Come on Illawarra. Let’s do this for Harper.