West Point child battles rare blood disease, needs bone marrow transplant

WEST POINT, Miss. (WCBI)- A West Point one-year-old has spent his young life in and out of hospital visits.

After his mom noticed he wasn’t gaining weight, doctors discovered the 17-month-old had a  rare type of blood cancer.

Mason Murphy was diagnosed with Myelodysplastic Syndrome or MDS.

He’s the son of Alicia Cherry and MSU football safety, Marcus Murphy.

Little Mason now needs to find a bone marrow donor match, that could ultimately save his life.

Since Mason Murphy was born, life has been far from easy.

“He wasn’t meeting his development milestones. He was only 7 pounds at 11 months old,” said Mason’s mom Alicia Cherry.

His mom and dad’s hearts shattered when they learned Mason had MDS.

“I was devastated. I couldn’t think,” said Cherry.

His dad Marcus Murphy, tough on the football field, now tackled with his son’s terrifying diagnosis.

“I cried. I mean, I’m a big baby but, this is my son I’m soft hearted for him. I couldn’t process it. Like now, I still can’t process it. It seems like it’s unreal,” said Murphy.

In hopes of finding a cure, Mason needs a bone marrow transplant. He’s on the national bone marrow registry, Be the Match.

But here’s where it gets tricky. There are 19 million people registered to donate. But a bone marrow transplant is far more complex.

“With blood, there’s a limited few numbers of blood type. With tissue types there are hundreds of thousands of different tissue types,” said Community Engagement Rep. Rachel Harris.

Rachel Harris with Be Match says people of all ethnicities are encouraged to register to donate.

In Mason’s case, as an African American, statistics show he has a 22% chance of finding a donor on the registry.

“We’re searching for someone who closely matches the patients DNA type or tissue type. All of that’s inherited. You are going to match someone who shares your ethnic background,” said Harris.

Mason makes regular trips to St. Jude to ensure he doesn’t develop leukemia. He has a feeding tube to get the nutrients he needs.

“Right now he’s perfectly fine. He’s had a blood transfusion and that helped him,” said Cherry.

Surrounded by the love of their family and relying on faith, and hope from a possible stranger, they believe Mason will overcome this disease.

“God. Without God I don’t know where any of us would be,” said Cherry.

“It’s been a rough process, but it’s eventually going to get better,” said Murphy.

His mom and dad have registered and are waiting to find out if they could be a match.

Mason did have one seizure and is on medication after a cyst was found on his brain and doctors say he’s prone to more of them.

You can join the registry by checking out Mason’s story on Be the Match.