Culver's of Addison hosts fundraiser, bone marrow drive for local 6-year-old

A suburban girl's plight to find a potentially life-saving bone marrow match has been well documented as of late, primarily due to her multiracial heritage. Still, the family of 6-year-old Sophia Trujillo is doing everything they can to get as many people as possible tested and added to the National Marrow Donor Registry in an effort to save their little girl.

On Tuesday, September 29, Culver's of Addison, 1347 W. Lake St., will hold a fundraiser and Be the Match bone marrow drive from 4-8 p.m. Culver's will provide 15 percent of sales from the entire day to the Trujillo family to assist with their mounting medical bills.

Last summer, Michelle Trujillo took her seemingly healthy daughter in for a yearly wellness checkup. It was at this appointment that doctors diagnosed Sophia with aplastic anemia, a rare disease that affects bone marrow development.

Sophia's bone marrow stopped making blood cells for her body and, more than a year and several blood transfusions later, Sophia can no longer attend school or extracurricular activities due to infection prevention. She now needs a bone marrow transplant that is crucial to her survival. However, because of Sophia's multiracial heritage - she's half Filipino, and also Irish, Spanish and Italian - it is taking longer than usual to find a donor match.

Statistically, Sophia's odds are significantly low, and Culver's of Addison owner Todd Esposito has set out to hopefully increase those odds. "With a little more awareness about the severity of Sophia's condition, we just might be able to find the right match," says Esposito. "I have faith that our community will spread the word and help in whatever way possible."