Hallie Bea Barnard was diagnosed with Diamond Blackfan Anemia (DBA) at 13 months of age. After they found it, they were able to control it with steroids and blood transfusions. If you looked at Hallie, you would have never known she was sick. The only cure for DBA is a bone marrow transplant. So Hallie's search began...
While Hallie was searching, she knew she could also advocate for the many chil
dren who couldn't advocate for themselves because they were in the hospitals. That's why, at 6 years old, she started a non-profit to get as many people as possible to join the bone marrow registry. Hallie joined forces with fraternities, policemen, firemen, and many other groups to help advocate. After finding so many matches for others, it was Hallie's turn! She had a bone marrow transplant when she turned 10 years old-- that means she waited/searched over 9 years to find a match! Four months post-transplant, we found out that it was successful! That means she no longer has DBA! Unfortunately, less than 1 month after hearing the news that the bone marrow transplant was successful, Hallie started feeling pain in her left leg. The doctors quickly found that the pain was caused by a cancer in her thigh bone. This however, didn't get Hallie down. She knew that God wasn't done with her, and she had this because she needed to reach more people. Hallie expanded her mission to include advocating for children with cancers of all sorts! Hallie made up her mind to beat cancer. To do this, she and her doctors decided to amputate her left leg. This rid her body of cancer! Now Hallie is on a mission... a mission to research DBA for patients that aren’t as lucky as Hallie was by finding her bone marrow match... she’s on a mission to research childhood cancers for patients that aren’t able to make the decisions she had... she’s on a mission to get as many people as possible to join the National Bone Marrow Registry... she’s on a mission to SAVE THE WORLD!
