Hadi's twin brother, Zakaria threw a book at Hadi in September of 2017. We didn't think much of Hadi's black eye but then we started to notice bruises on his back and figured his brother couldn't be giving him those. After some Google research, we decided to take Hadi to his pediatrician. After a stay at Fairfax/INOVA Children's Hospital, Hadi was diagnosed with aplastic anemia. Zakaria was tested to see if he was bone marrow match for Hadi and when it was discovered he was not, we were sent to the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to try immunotherapy. When immunotherapy did not turn out to be successful, we were told to go forward with a bone marrow transplant from an unrelated matched donor and we were happy to hear that Hadi had many matches. Hadi ended up having two transplants that were unsuccessful and unfortunately, Hadi lost his battle before we could begin a third transplant. Team Watience was a phrase that Hadi came up with and it is a combination of "We Got This and Team Patience".
Team Watience has established the Hadi Abdur Rasheed Research Fund for Aplastic Anemia through the Aplastic Anemia and MDS International Foundation (AAMDSIF). Aplastic anemia is a rare disease in which the bone marrow stops producing enough blood cells. The disease can strike at any age regardless of race or gender. It is often diagnosed in children, young adults and older adults. Each year, 300-900 people in the U.S. are diagnosed with this rare disease. The disease is two to three times more prevalent in Asian countries. There is no cure aside from the imperfect option of a bone marrow transplant, something many patients cannot attempt because of the strain it would place on their bodies. The Hadi Abdur Rasheed Research Fund will mean supporting two years of critical research for an investigator with an innovative idea or concept. Important research is the only path to a cure and changing the diagnosis for many aplastic anemia patients. Hadi had two bone marrow transplants but his body was not able to handle the strain and complications. We want to work towards ensuring that is not the case for others through this research fund.