Argentine needing transplant finds lost father via Facebook

Buenos Aires, May 29 (IANS/EFE) An Argentine woman suffering from leukemia used Facebook to find her father after nearly two decades without contact so that bone marrow donation tests can be performed on him, media reported.

Malen Gaynor,39, resident of Buenos Aires, decided to search for her father after being hospitalised two weeks ago for cancer.

Given the inefficacy of chemotherapy in her case, her chances of survival depend on finding a compatible bone marrow donor.

Gaynor found her father who had divorced her mother when she was a little girl and with whom she had been out of contact for 18 years, thanks to Facebook, where she has set up the "Hoy Dono Vida" (Today I Donate Life) page to raise awareness about bone marrow donations.

"I decided to contact my dad when they suggested the transplant, which they could do with 50 percent compatibility. It's a chance, if a 100 percent compatible unrelated donor doesn't show up," Gaynor told reporters Wednesday.

"I found him living in (the central city of) Cordoba and through him I contacted my half-brother who lives in Buenos Aires and they've already done a blood analysis on him to test compatibility. My dad is coming June 4 to have it done also," she said.

"I feel that I reconciled myself with the past," Gaynor said.

--IANS/EFE

ab/rd