Visa Approved For LA Man’s Life-Saving Stem-Cell Transplant

After two visa rejections and weeks of waiting, Arthur Yu’s cousin in the Philippines has received his visa and can fly to the U.S. to donate his stem cells.

Yu, a 41-year-old new father from Miracle Mile, has been diagnosed with a fatal blood disease — acute myeloid leukemia or A.M.L. — and a stem cell transplant would give him an 80% chance of survival.

He told LAist he expects his cousin to arrive in the next three to four weeks. 

About the approval

The cousin, a 46-year-old man living in the Philippine countryside, is Yu’s strongest match for a transplant.

But when his request for a visa was rejected by the State Department in late December, and again earlier this month, their family asked Sen. Alex Padilla for assistance. Padilla’s office made congressional inquiries on behalf of the cousin after each rejection.

In an Instagram video filmed from a Cedars-Sinai infusion bay, Yu said his cousin received his visa last week and is now approved to travel for the transplant.

He thanked Padilla, and Congressman Adam Schiff, for all their help and private lobbying.

"I am glad my office was able to assist Mr. Yu with his case to receive the life-saving care that he needs,” Padilla said in a statement. “My team and I will continue to provide federal assistance to all Californians.”

Yu said the next step is for his doctor and transplant team to come up with a timeline and share it with him and his donor cousin.

“It's a huge relief,” he said. “I never built this into my emotions.”

But because the transplant was delayed, Yu needed to get another round of chemotherapy last week – his fifth. He said he’s still recovering from those treatments, but the hope is that once he’s feeling better, he’ll be ready for the transplant.

Yu said he can’t wait to get the political stuff behind them so he can focus on treatment and healing. 

Part of a bigger problem

Yu shares his struggle with a network of cancer patients from immigrant families whose relatives in Asia, Africa, and Latin America have fought for visas to make life-saving donations.

He said he’s learned how subjective the visa process can be, and he encouraged others dealing with similar situations not to take anything for granted.

“Make sure you're doing two times, three times as much as necessary,” he said. “In fact, maybe a hundred times more than necessary because we were prepared, doubly prepared, quadruply prepared, and it wasn’t enough.” 

He said in today’s times, you need to punctuate these kinds of immigration requests with a lot of noise and a lot of local government support.

He thanked every person who shared his story and said without their support, his family would’ve been another case file stuck in political limbo “along with a million others.”

California residents who may be stuck in a similar situation can request assistance from Padilla’s office here, or by calling any of his six offices, the senator said in a statement.

Yu encouraged people to donate to the NMDP, formerly known as Be The Match, to build up the domestic bone marrow supply — especially if you’re Black, Asian, or Latino.

He also encouraged people to give blood, because there’s people like him who need it.