Ashley Cain of MTV's “The Challenge: War of the Worlds” is asking his fans for help one month after revealing his 13-week-old daughter Azaylia's leukemia diagnosis.
“She now is in desperate need for a bone transplant,” Cain, 30, wrote on Instagram. “Her case is very rare and aggressive and made even rarer by her age.”
Cain noted that Azaylia’s mixed ethnicity — she’s Caribbean, Indian and white — makes it more difficult for her to find a donor.
“That being said, ANYBODY no matter what race could be her genetic match,” the former pro soccer player wrote. “My little warrior has done all she can do up until this point and more, but now she needs our help!”
To give Azaylia a “fighting chance” of survival, Cain, who lives in the UK, pleaded with his followers in register as donors at Anthony Nolan and DKMS, two UK-based organizations.
(If you would like to join the registry in the U.S., visit BeTheMatch.org for more information.)
In a follow-up post, Cain explained that registering as a bone marrow donor is a simple and painless process that involves filling out a form and donating cheek cells on a cotton swab.
Cain and his girlfriend, Safiyaa Vorajee, welcomed Azaylia in August. In October, Cain shared the somber news that the newborn was battling a acute myeloid leukemia. The disease, also known as AML, is a type of cancer in which the bone marrow makes a large number of abnormal white cells, according to the National Cancer Institute.
Myeloid leukemia is the second most common pediatric blood cancer, but it’s still relatively rare. In the United States, there are roughly 500 children a year between the ages of 0 and 14 that are diagnosed with AML, according to Dr. Richard Aplenc, a physician-scientist within the Division of Oncology at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia.
Cain has been posting frequent updates from the hospital featuring his "little warrior."
“Time is of the essence,” he said on Monday. “Please, please make sure you swab and send back. God willing we’ll find a match.”