Time Remaining
20days : 05hrs : 10min : 00sec
Max, age 15 MAX, 15

Max has weeks. Not months. Weeks.

A 15-year-old is running out of time. Out of 42 million registered donors, zero perfect matches exist. A cheek swab takes 5 minutes. If you are 18-35 years old you could be the one.

Get Your Free Kit

42M

donors on the registry worldwide

0

perfect matches found for Max

30 secs

is all a cheek swab takes

"I'm posting this because I need your help to save my son."

But when you're told your son is dying and the world's largest donor registry has come up empty, you stop caring about algorithms and start caring about miracles.

This single video hit 20 million views. Celebrities shared it. Over 100,000 people joined Team Max. Twelve thousand signed up for cheek swab kits in the first 24 hours alone.

Juan's viral video
Watch the video

"You should add a transplant doctor."

Max was six when his blood first told a story no parent wants to hear. Low platelets. Low red cells. Low white cells. For years, doctors watched. In December 2024, his numbers dropped again. A bone marrow biopsy revealed what his doctors called "pink flags." The doctors said they should add a transplant doctor to Max's care team.

The diagnosis: a rare blood disorder that, left untreated, will become MDS — a type of blood cancer that can progress to acute myeloid leukemia. This type affects fewer than 1 in 1,000,000 children. The only cure is a stem cell transplant. The only way to get a transplant is to find a donor.

But Max still doesn't have a match.

Why Max's match is so hard to find

Max is half-Colombian from his father and a mix of Italian, British, and German from his mother. Patients are most likely to match with someone who shares their ancestry — but the donor registry does not reflect the diversity of the people who need it.

Ethnic Background Chance of Match
Non-Hispanic White 79%
Hispanic / Latino 48%
Black / African American 29%
Mixed Ancestry Even Lower

Only 13% of the NMDP registry identifies as Hispanic. For a kid like Max, with complex, mixed heritage, the math is devastating. The system was not built for him. But you can rebuild it — one cheek swab at a time.

Your part takes 5 minutes

01

Get your free kit

Register to get a swab kit mailed to you. Free. No strings.

02

Swab & send

Swab the inside of your cheek and drop it in the mailbox. It takes 30 seconds.

03

Save a life

If you match, process is usually same day, in-and-out. No cost. Someone gets to live.

Max's fight sparked a movement. Let's prove we still care about each other.

We're not just looking for Max's match. We're flooding the registry so that no one — Max or the thousands of others waiting — has to die because their genetic match never signed up.

1M

Swabs by April 1st

10M

Swabs by end of 2027

Max has weeks. A cheek swab takes 30 seconds.

Free kit. No needles. Done from home. You could be the match that saves his life.

Join Team Max
Every day without a match is a day Max can't get back.