Los Alamitos Youth Baseball Will Hold Weekend Bone Marrow Drive for Local Child

Things are looking up for 8-year-old Kai Quinonez. The Hopkinson Elementary School student has been able to go more than a week without blood transfusions and, with flu season over, he’s been able to leave the house from time to time. Plus, the little boy with sandy blond hair, dimples and a love for all things airplane has become somewhat of a local celebrity.

The community has rallied around Kai since he was diagnosed with a rare blood disorder last year. In March, more than 800 people turned out for a bone marrow drive in his honor, and today, children and parents with Los Alamitos Youth Baseball are hoping to rally even more people with a fundraiser and bone marrow drive during league play at the fields at Lexington Drive and Farquhar Avenue.

“We still have a long road ahead of us, but things are looking better,” said Kai’s father, Gus Quinonez. “His blood count is up, and I have been able to take him out on the golf course.”

The fall and winter were tough for the Quinonez family. It was last fall that Kai’s parents noticed dark bruises on his back. It wasn’t long after that Kai was blood transfusion-dependent, stuck in the hospital on bad days and restricted to the house on good days. Kai was diagnosed with aplastic anemia, a rare blood disease that limits the production of blood cells.

Kai is in the middle of his first of two six-month chemotherapy treatments. However, if the chemotherapy fails to heal him, he will need a bone marrow transfusion and a donor.

Los Alamitos Youth Baseball is the perfect venue for the fundraiser and bone marrow drive, said organizer Cat Driscoll. Hundreds of kids and parents come and go for games all weekend long, and, as parents, they can sympathize with what the Quinonez family is going through, she said.

“We’re asking people, ‘what if this was your child?',” said Driscoll. “There is a family out there and a little boy who really needs your help.’ ”

The support from Driscoll and Los Alamitos Youth Baseball has been overwhelming, said Gus Quinonez. The community support has helped Kai keep his spirits up, he added.

For now, Kai has been feeling better than he has for months.

“As long as he is feeling all right, we’ll try to get him out (today) to say hi to everyone,” said Gus Quinonez.

Despite the anticipated crowd, Kai isn’t likely to be intimidated, said his father.

“He’s definitely not shy,” added Gus Quinonez. “He’s got a great personality. He just knows how to light up a room.”

The drive runs from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. today and Sunday at the Los Alamitos Youth Baseball field at Lexington Drive and Farquhar, and there will be extra parking and a shuttle today at Cottonwood Christian Center from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.