Girl set for lifesaving transplant

The girl that everyone came to see sat at the bar, her surgical mask pulled aside to enjoy a tall glass of orange juice and a plate of sliced strawberries.

Nora Getchell, just days shy of her seventh birthday, was at the Shirley Applebee's Sunday so she and her family could celebrate some good news after months of immunosuppressant drug treatments and bone-marrow donor searches.

Finally there was a potential lifesaving match.

Next month at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, the Mastic Beach girl is scheduled for the bone marrow transplant needed to treat her severe aplastic anemia, the disease that renders her body unable to produce enough blood to fight infection.

Much of the thanks for locating the anonymous match, Nora's parents said, goes to the community members who helped organize numerous blood and bone-marrow drives nationwide, and raised $40,000 for medical expenses.

"I was just jaded, always expecting the worst from people," said Nora's mom, Maureen Getchell, explaining her mindset before moving from Brooklyn to Mastic Beach seven years ago. "But everyone here has been amazing."

After identifying the match Feb. 10, the family needed help ensuring their Sloan-Kettering specialist could perform the transplant. The insurance provider -- run through the state's Child Health Plus -- denied out-of-network coverage.

But Suffolk County Legis. Kate Browning (WF-Shirley) contacted Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo's office Feb. 16, and within days, the carrier's decision was reversed.

"This is her only real chance at survival," Browning said from Applebee's, "and it was a horrible feeling knowing we were going to hit a brick wall with the insurance."

Maureen Getchell and her husband, Shawn, said Nora wasn't responding to her immunosuppressant drug treatment, meant to raise her hemoglobin and platelet levels, making the transplant more critical.

Post-transplant, Nora, pulled from kindergarten last May upon her diagnosis, still must endure a month of full quarantine to avoid infection.

For now, she can interact with friends and family, just with the constant presence of a germ-blocking surgical mask over her nose and mouth.

"You see what she's going through, you do everything you can to help," said Mastic Beach Property Owners Association president Bob DeBona, who arranged fundraisers and donor drives for Nora. "Everyone just fell for this little girl."

As he spoke, the guest of honor bounded by, wearing a long flowered skirt and glitter-covered sneakers that lit up with each step.