Wednesday, October 2, 1991 — North Shore News ~ 3 Family saddened as bone marrow donor withdraws A DEEP Cove family struggling with a deadly genetic disorder has been hit hard again after learning that a bone matrow donor secured for the youngest of two stricken daughters has had to withdraw donorship for personal health reasons. Melissa Badger, 5, was to have . entered Children’s Hospital on Monday to begin the transpiant process. But Jeanette and Steve Badger were told that the donor was no longer in place on the day they returned from a trip to Disneyworld — a trip granted to Rachel Badger, 7, by the Make A Wish Foundation of B.C. Rachel and Melissa were found earlier this spring to have metachromatic leukodystrophy, 2 genetic disease that leads to the deterioration of the nerves and brain due to the lack of ara. sulphatase-A enzyme in the dody. Their three-year-old sister Car- rie is healthy. A Red Cross bone marrow donor information session, to help all people in need of marrow transplant, is scheduled for i] a.m. Saturday, Oct. 5 at the Shaughnessy Hospital auditorium in Vancouver. in June, 600 people signed up to join the Unrelated Bone Mar- row Donor Registry at a Red Cross session held at recCentre Delbrook. A donor should be 17 to 59 years of age and must be willing By lichae! Becker News Reporter to be a blood donor. Meanwhile the condition of the two Badger girls continues to ‘deteriorate. Said Steve Badger, ‘‘Eight months ago Rachel was a happy, healthy child. We’ve just watched her first have difficulty walking, she struggled with walking Rachel is a fighter... we've just incorporated a wheelchair and now she’s down to. three-word sentences. It’s very difficult and it’s even more difficult to think that your next child is going to gc like that.”” The quest for a suitable bone marrow donor for Melissa con- tinues. Donor registries throughout the world are being searched. Meanwhile Rachel continues to attend school. She is enrolled in Grade 2 at Dorothy Lynas School. Said Badger,‘‘They have a pro- gram where they integrate handi- capped kids into the classroom. Rachel enjoys enormously going to school. They've been wonderful Deep Cove girls struggling with © genetic disorder in accepting Rachel and making it work.’* In July, the Badgers attended a Leukodystrophy Foundation con- ference in Chicago. The organiza- tion represents about 3090 parents. “You get to talk to other parents. Sometimes the doctors don’t tell you the other 50%. The parents tell you everything,’’ he said. “‘We’re aware of some Cana- dian families (coping with the genetic disorder) — one has three out of six (children affected), one had three out of three affected, one had two out of three children affected. So it really hits hard and it’s a horrible disease.’’ Through it all tite family is receiving an outpouring of sup- port from the people around them. “We find our strength in people — it’s not hokey, we go to church and people help us. We've got a mission to find donors. We don’t have time to think about it. There are things that have to be done."’ Family friend Marion Wilson has established the R&M Leukodystrophy Fund. Trust fund donations may be made to any branch of the Royal Bank. 7" OEEP COVE sisters Melissa and Rachel Badger were diagnosed last spring with metachromatic leukodystrophy, a genetic disease that leads to the deterioration of the nerves and brain due to the lack of ara sulphatase-A enzyme in the body. Melissa, 5. was to have entered Children’s Hospital on Monday ‘o begin the transplant procees, but her donor had (to withdraw for health reasons. Candidates respond WV-Garibaldi By Surj Rattan News Reporter STARTING in today’s edi- tion, the Nort Shore News will begin running a pre- election story series focusing on major issues facing the four North Shore provincial ridings. ‘ Each series instulment ° will feature one riding and include responses from that riding’s caz- didates. . . In today’s first instalment, the News looks at the new ridive of West Vancouver-Garibaldi and asks the riding’s candidates about the clean-up of polluted Iowe Sound. ° @ ND? candidate Brian Giles: “*When you talk about cleaning up Howe Sound, you’re talking about pulp mills. We (NDP) put 20 laws forward over the last few years to clean up the environment. **We've put forward an act to prohibit the dumping of toxic ma- terials. A third act we’d like to put through is the Whistle Blowers’ Protection Act which would protect people in industry from losing their jobs if they in- formed about illegal dumping and spills. **Howe Sound should be restored to its original pristine condition. Our party is totally committed to restoring that pristine condition. We feel Social Credit is not committed to clean- ing up the environment. They’ve delayed doing it.*’ @ Social Credit candidate Dr. Rodney Glynn-Morris: **I think it’s essential that we recognize Howe Sound is 10% of a larger watershed. To just look at the waters of Howe Sound is not the solution. We have to look at the whole watershed and not think of Howe Sound as this big, dirty source of water. HOWE SOUND has been plagued hopefuls comment on Howe Sound cleanup by pollution problems from industry and development. West Vancouver Garibaldi candidates give their views on what's needed for improvement: (left to right) NDP candidate Brian Giles; Social Credit candidate Dr. Rodney Glynn-Morris; Green Party of Canada candidate Phil Millerd; and Liberal candidate David Mitchell. “To clean up Howe Sound ef- fectively, you have to have discus- sions with all the interested par- ties. We need to discuss having 24-hour monitoring of the pulp mills; we need 100% compliance of the existing environmental laws; we need to have secondary sewage treatment for ail the municipalities that border Howe Sound. “Governments only have money they take out of taxpayers’ pockets so we would have to make cuts in other areas. We need to have a list of priorities. I am. against what I call enviro- quackery.”’ @ Green Party of Canada can- didate Phit Mitlerd: ‘“‘The procedure we’ve been under for the last few years has clearly not worked. The people of Howe Sound should have input in terms of the pulp mills. I’m af- fected by what goes into Howe Sound from the pulp mills. “*Victoria’s track record has been dismal. It doesn’t matter if it’s the Socreds or the NDP. I think the people need to be heard. The people shousd be allowed to say what should happen with the pulp mills. I don’t think they (pulp mills) need to be using chlo- rine and bleaches.” @ Liberal candidate David Mit- chell: ‘Some political parties, in par- ticular the governing party, said that we have to choose between the environment and jobs. We don’t have to choose; we must and can have both. We need to adopt a non-polarized approach to the issue. “These pulp imiils must not only be encouraged to clean up their act, they must do it quickly. It’s a false fear to say it is the environ- ment against jobs. “The future goa! is to have a clean environment. We have to stop looking at the environment as a threat but rather as an economic opportunity. We can develop new environmental technological in- dustries right here and we could be a major exporter of en- « vironmental technology.’ Enumeration investigation called off B.C.'S CHIEF Electoral Of- ficer has decided against laun- ching an investigation into charges that some potential voters in the North Van- couver-Lonsdale riding may have been improperly enumerated, Last week North Van- couver-Lonsdale NDP can- didate David Schreck said he and his canvassers hac been told by some riding residents that the riding’s Social Credit candidate, Marilyn Baker, had said she weuld put their names on the provincial voters’ list. Only Elections B.C. has the power to enumerate voters. But Baker denied that her camp had done anything wrong. She said her campaign workers had always identified themselves white canvassing in the riding and that her office had always used the canvassers sheet provided by Elections B.C. Schreck said he was con- cerned that voters might think they had been placed on the voters’ list and not bother to go out te the temporary voter registration booths. He wrote to B.C. Chief Electora! Officer Robert Pat- terson asking for an investiga- tion. But in a subsequent letter to Baker, Patterson wrote: “From the details which you have set out in your letter, it is evident that there has been no intent or attempt to improperly inform electors as to voter reg- istration requirements and pro- cedures. “In fact your team is to be complimented for its effort with respect to those names which had been sent to the Registrar of Voters immediate- ly before the election.”’ Patterson added that because there has been no wrongdoing or intent to mislead voters on the part of anyone, his office will not launch an_ investiga- tion. Sept. 28 was the last day for provincial voter registration.