Bone marrow donor needed

HOPING FOR A MIRACLE-The Karsch family of Hidden Hills is hoping that someone will be a bone marrow match for Michael, left, who's dying of leukemia. Shown here is Karsch in 1999, with wife, Cathy, son, Gunnar, and the family dog. A blood testing drive is planned for City Hall in Hidden Hills noon to 8 p.m.tomorrow.

Hidden Hills resident Michael Karsch is dying of leukemia.

His only hope of survival is a bone marrow transplant. But finding a donor is nearly impossible and time is running out.

Karsch’s family and friends have organized a bone marrow blood test drive planned for Hidden Hills City Hall tomorrow from noon until 8 p.m.

The testing will be conducted by the City of Hope hospital, which will send out a mobile unit, staffed by technicians, to collect blood from prospective donors.

The blood will be immediately sent to a laboratory to see if it could be a genetic match for Karsch.

Unfortunately, the chances of finding a match is slim.

"It’s like winning the lottery—it’s very, very difficult," said Karsch’s stepmother Roberta Karsch, one of the drive’s organizers. Even Karsch’s brother, who had a sibling’s chance of 25 percent of matching, wasn’t an exact match, she said.

As many donors as possible are needed for testing.

Prospective donors also will have the opportunity to join the National Marrow Donor Program.

This is the second donor drive for Karsch.

The first one last week, also in Hidden Hills, drew more than 300 people. In fact, it was so crowded that people had to be turned away for lack of time (they will be tested tomorrow).

"There was an incredible outpouring of humanity… most of the people came from the community because it was a last-minute thing," said Karsch, who’s hoping to reach a wider area with more advance publicity for tomorrow and future drives, if needed.

"It really was therapeutic for Michael, knowing that so many people came out on his behalf," said Karsch.

Michael Karsch, 37, currently waits in an isolation room at the City of Hope hospital in Los Angeles. His condition isn’t good.

He had been diagnosed with leukemia in April, and actually went into remission after heavy doses of chemotherapy, but recently relapsed into a worsened condition.

Having grown up in the area, Karsch moved to Hidden Hills a few years ago, where he lives with his wife, Cathy, and son, Gunnar, 8.

Hidden Hills City Hall is at 6165 Spring Valley Road at the Burbank Boulevard gate of the community (at the cul de sac at the very end of Burbank Boulevard).