New Mexico boy to receive bone marrow transplant from sister

Jun. 26—Muhammad Idrissa, born with sickle cell anemia, was in desperate need of a bone marrow transplant.

His parents, Moustapha Idrissa and Balkissa Boubacar, had been able to help keep the young boy healthy through a special diet, hydration, proper rest, and avoiding infections and extreme temperatures.

The father said 8-year-old Muhammad didn't experience symptoms from the condition until 2019, when doctors discovered he'd had what is known as a silent stroke. The need for a marrow transplant — the only known cure for the illness — became more urgent, but none of the family members was a match.

Then came the birth of a sister who could help.

"Jennah was the miracle, and she almost didn't make it," Moustapha Idrissa said.

His daughter, Jennah, who is now 3, arrived two months premature and weighed only 2 pounds at birth but has grown to a happy, healthy girl who will provide her brother with the lifesaving marrow donation.

Idrissa, an entrepreneur whose family lived in Santa Fe for several years until his children's health conditions forced them to move to Las Cruces, a city with a lower elevation, is now turning to the community to seek help covering their costs for travels to Washington state, where his son will undergo the marrow transplant in July at Seattle Children's Hospital.

They so far have raised more than $5,000 through a GoFundMe campaign.

Idrissa had brought his family — his wife, who was pregnant with their son Ibrahim, and Muhammad — to Northern New Mexico from their native Niger in 2016 with a dream of studying dry land farming so he could take what he learned back to his drought-stricken home country. He worked on a hydroponics farm in Alcalde and began taking community college classes in controlled-environment agriculture.

Two years later, he opened Mafé Café, a food cart on the Santa Fe Plaza featuring some of his favorite flavors from West Africa. It quickly gained popularity as the family settled into their new life here.

His business plans were derailed, however, when he and his wife learned the city's high elevation made it difficult for Jennah, whose lungs were weakened, to get enough oxygen.

"I was really worried about the health of my family," Idrissa said. "Living at that elevation was not good for them, and so we had to leave Santa Fe."

Idrissa recalled the day his daughter — the third of his three children — was born. He was working at his food cart on the Plaza when a doctor called to tell him his wife had gone into labor at an Albuquerque hospital.

He was shocked by the news. "I tell the doctor, 'Look, she is not supposed to have the baby right now.' "

Without a second thought, he packed up the cart and rushed to Albuquerque.

"I came, and the baby was in the [newborn intensive care unit]. They have all these tubes on her."

She was so tiny, Idrissa said. "I didn't think she was going to make it, but she made it. [She was] so strong."

Soon after Jennah was born, the family learned about Muhammad's stroke during a routine appointment with a specialist in Memphis.

Since then, Muhammad has had to get regular blood transfusions through a port on his chest to prevent future strokes.

"Getting blood every month is a good temporary relief, but it's not good in the long run because he can accumulate too much iron and can damage his organs," Idrissa said.

His son has been able to live a relatively normal life but knows there was something different about him, the father added.

"Needles all the time, needles," Idrissa said. "He was asking why is he getting poked all the time, you know. Why is he the only one being poked in the family? ... I told him this is just temporary."

Muhammad qualified for a program in Seattle that will cover the cost of the bone marrow transplant.

"The hospital will take care of everything as far as medical care is concerned," Idrissa said. "They will provide for housing for myself and my family, while Muhammed is going to be in the hospital for one or two months. ... But after those two months, we are on our own."

Muhammad will continue to get blood transfusions until he completes his treatment and has his port removed.

"He tells everybody, 'Once my port is removed, I'll get to go to Africa,' " Idrissa said.

He reflected on the changes he has experienced in New Mexico that forced him to shut down his business and delay his plans to return to Niger to start a demonstration farm.

"When my family was going through all this, I took a step back and realized that in life, most of the things we care about are not the most important things," Idrissa said. "... What's important is to be healthy and to have a healthy family."