200 Winnipeggers take DNA test in hopes of helping sick boy

As a sick little boy waits in the Winnipeg Children's Hospital for a procedure that might save his life, 200 people got their genetic information checked Sunday to see if they might be the match he needs.

Tegveer Minhas, who is 15 months old, has acute myeloid leukemia, a cancer of the blood cells.

Winnipeggers take DNA test in hopes of helping sick boy

8 years ago

Duration 2:16

As a sick little boy waits in the Winnipeg Children's Hospital for a procedure that might save his life, 200 people got their genetic information checked Sunday to see if they might be the match he needs.

Doctors have told the family that his only chance for survival is to find a stem cell or bone marrow donor, but that requires a very close genetic match. 

On Sunday, dozens of people from Winnipeg's Sikh community lined up at the Sikh Society of Manitoba to get their cheeks swabbed so they could be put into a registry of potential donors.

"This gives us hope today," said Sukhbir Minhas, Tegveer's father. "We really don't know where that person is who could be a match for him. He may be here!"

A stem cell or bone marrow donation would help Tegveer fight off the cancer by boosting his immune system, which currently can't detect and kill the leukemia cells. 

Since Tegveer's diagnosis on Oct. 25, he has gone through two rounds of chemotherapy, causing him to lose his hair and a lot of weight. He's now recovering under observation until doctors decide their next course of action.

"I want my son to be healthy again, to be that little joyful kid I know. I think I will die soon too if I lose my son," said Minhas.

"Thank you for coming here, for every single person, regardless if they're a match or not. They tried, and I appreciate their courage."

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There will be more swabs taken on Monday from 5-7 p.m.  at the same location.

Robyn Henwood, a territory manager for stem cells for Canadian Blood Services, said the tests will determine potential matches for Tegveer and 1,000 patients worldwide.

The better the match, the less likely it is that the donation will be rejected by the patient's body.

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"Matches are generally based on ethnic background, so we're always trying to add more ethnicity to it, and this is the ethnic background of our patient," Henwood said.

"For our program, we're 70 per cent Caucasian, which is certainly not the face of Canada at all, so it's certainly something we're working on developing."