Stephanie Hamm, San Antonio and Los Angeles Walk Committees

I am involved in Hope, Steps & A Cure Walk San Antonio because our oldest son, Garrett John Hamm, was diagnosed with aplastic anemia at the age of 16 in August 1985.  We were stationed at Sheppard AFB in Wichita Falls, Texas at the time, and doctors there thought that he had some type of cancer.  After a very painful bone marrow aspiration, we were told that his bone marrow was no longer producing sufficient platelets.  Garrett was treated with high doses of prednisone and his bone marrow seemed to react positively.  But, the diagnosis ended what had been a promising career in sports. There was not a sport that Garrett tried that he did not play well – but now the dream of playing college football, soccer or baseball was gone.

In 1991, Garrett was attending Long Beach State University in California, and he collapsed in exhaustion.  His sister Lovdy raced him to the emergency room at UCLA, and he was diagnosed with recurring bone marrow failure disease – so severe that his marrow was no longer producing red blood cells – or those that were produced were so damaged that they were not sufficient to carry oxygen to the rest of his 6’2” frame.  From then on, Garrett was on monthly red cell transfusions, coupled with experimental protocols that did not reverse the condition.  After seeing his sister Mia play soccer in the 1996 Olympics, Garrett was told that his only hope was a bone marrow transplant.  Garrett was adopted – so that necessitated a search for his biological parents and finally – when he found his father – the bone marrow transplant was scheduled for February 14, 1997. Garrett received his transplant on Valentine’s Day.  However, a pernicious fungal infection, aspergillis, appeared in his lungs and soon took over all of his major organs, and Garrett passed away at Richland Memorial Hospital, Columbia, South Carolina on April 16, 1997.  His entire family was with him.

Mine is only one in a litany of stories that I have heard as I have participated in the work of the Aplastic Anemia & MDS International Foundation.   AA&MDSIF was only a phone call away when we were trying to find help for Garrett.  There was always that calm voice and that certain guidance.  Today, through the foundation’s connection with research, aspergillis fungal infections can be treated with a pill.  Today, patients with Garrett’s condition have many more options than he did.  The Hope, Steps & A Cure Walk funds the patient and family services provided by AA&MDSIF.  They were there for us – we want them to be there for all patients and families – in perpetuity!