Baby Sophia Meets the Yankees!

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On Wednesday, June 30, 2010, Francisco Cervelli and Colin Curtis of the New York Yankees visited Baby Sophia and her family at Mount Sinai Medical Center.

Six-month-old Sophia Lopez suffers from hemophagocytic lymphohistiocytosis (HLH), a rare blood condition that can only be cured by a bone marrow transplant from a matching donor.

Curtis related to the family's plight; as a teen he battled an aggressive form of testicular cancer that spread to his stomach and lymph nodes. "My treatment involved surgery to remove the tumor and parts of the affected veins, and regular blood tests. My parents were very scared. But, through the help of so many, I have been cancer-free for ten years. I'd hope that little Sophia has the same outcome," said the 25-year-old Yankee.

Sophia is of Puerto Rican descent, so finding a perfect match will be challenging. Ethnic minorities are severely underrepresented on the registry and have uniquely diverse tissue types. Cervelli, of Venezuelan heritage, seeks to motivate Latinos to sign-up as donors in order to help Hispanic patients like Sophia.

Both hope that their younger fan base will answer the call to action, since the most ideal donors are between the ages of 18 and 24.

Help Sophia and others. Register today. Join Sophia's Facebook group!