Shannon Taverez: A Quick Touch to Our Hearts

Shannon Tavarez, the 11 year old actress who played Young Nala in Broadways The Lion King, passed away a week ago after a long battle with acute myeloid leukemia. A spokesperson from the Cohen Children’s Medical Center in New Hyde Park gave a statement saying “She was a remarkable and talented young lady who touched the lives of those she entertained, as well as those who cared for her over the past several months”.

Being biracial (her mother is African American and her father is Dominican) finding a match for a bone marrow transplant was difficult due to minorities being underrepresented in donor registries. Although her illness touched the hearts of many artists such as Rihanna, 50 Cent, and Alicia Keys no one came forward. Each performer joined in on websites encouraging their fans to get tested in order to see if they were a prospective donor. On Shannon’s page she states “Some people think that the test for compatibility is scary! They think it is going to hurt or that it is dangerous. All it really takes to get started is a cotton swab of the inside of your cheek. So please get tested today. Who knows? You might be my match. Or, you may be able to help other young people with similar illnesses”. Because there were no donors the doctors decided to perform an umbilical-cord transplant in late August as an alternate to receiving bone marrow.

The lights at the Minskoff Theatre, where she performed in The Lion King, were dimmed the night she died. In a statement released following her daughter's death, Odiney Brown said that "Shannon's dream was to perform on stage, and that was exactly what that beautiful young girl did.

If you want to help out for future children plagued with illnesses such as acute myeloid leukemia you can visit Shannon’s website at http://matchshannon.com/ to make donations and/or learn how to get tested yourself.

And remember the words of Shannon Tavarez... “One swab will do the job.”