A local 4-year-old will benefit from a Chase Bank contest that that will help pay for more research into a disease she's suffering from.
Chase Bank is giving $5 million to the top 196 charities in the country.
Delilah Leusch spends a lot of time at the hospital, because at eight months old, she was diagnosed with Diamond-Blackfan anemia, a rare blood disorder. "She has to be tested constantly to make sure her blood levels are high enough, she's on drugs so we have to monitor the effects of those drugs, it can have a lot of different side effects," said her mother, Dana Leusch.
Delilah is so used to getting poked by needles, she doesn't even cry, as her mom proudly watches her.
Diamond-Blackfan anemia is a potentially fatal blood disorder that's so rare, not much research is being done to find a cure.
Dana said, "I think that anyone who is a parent understands that you would literally get up on the rooftop and shout from the rooftop, 'We need a cure.'"
Because so few people suffer from the disorder, the DBA Foundation is very small and relies on bake sales, car washes and other fundraisers to raise money.
CBS47's medical expert, Dr. Giatri Dave says it's difficult to find new treatments when not much research is being done. "With rare diseases it's difficult to do effective research that gives us statistical significance in something that's called a clinical trial," said Dr. Dave.
And that's where Chase Bank comes into play. Since September 6th, 7,000 charities and foundations around the country are competing for a chance to win between $10,000 to $250,000.
The winners are determined by people voting at Chase Bank and on Facebook. Voting ended on Wednesday and the DBA Foundation finished in 11th place, good enough to win $100,000, which could mean the difference between life or death for Delilah and others like her.
You can help by donating through the link on our website.
