It’s a terrible thing to lose a child. When 20-year-old Torry Yahn made her final request “Mom, find out why” to her mother JoAnn, there was only one thing left to do. JoAnn took her grief and turned it into an advocacy effort that has raised over $375,000 for bone marrow failure disease research.
Torry started to complain of headaches when she was 16. As things got worse, tests revealed she suffered from aplastic anemia. After four years of treatments, medications and blood transfusions, Torry received a bone-marrow transplant in February 1998. Two months later she died.
JoAnn immediately became active with AA&MDSIF. Along with her husband, Don, the Yahns established the Torry Yahn Research Fund and organized an event near their Churchville, NY home to raise money.
2013 marked the 15th annual Chicken Barbecue and Auction.