Kendall BBQ Joint Hosts Bone Marrow Drive for Woman Saved by Her Sister in 1995

More than three decades after her 16-year-old sister's bone marrow saved her life, a South Florida woman is asking her community to do the same for strangers. Liudmila Esquerdo, who was diagnosed with severe aplastic anemia as a young woman, is partnering with a Kendall barbecue restaurant to register new stem cell and bone marrow donors this week.

Esquerdo's own case began with a diagnosis that upended her life at a young age, according to a report from WPLG Local 10. She has said that initial treatments failed to make her bone marrow respond, leaving a transplant as her best option. Her younger sister, Ivette Esquerdo, who was 16 at the time, was matched as her donor, and on July 24, 1995, Liudmila's body accepted the donated bone marrow. Esquerdo has said her sister's donation inspired her to pay it forward, and she went on to have a daughter, Vianca, and a son, Gabriel.

That family history is now the backbone of a donor drive set for Kendall's Apocalypse BBQ, where owner Jeff Budnechky has his own story to tell. Budnechky is a bone marrow recipient himself, and prior to opening the restaurant, he spent much of his 20s as a patient at Miami's Sylvester Comprehensive Cancer Center undergoing treatment for acute myeloid leukemia before receiving his own transplant. He has said his donor gave him additional years of life and family.

A Restaurant Known for Barbecue Becomes a Donor Registration Site

Apocalypse BBQ began in 2021 as a pop-up rooted in Budnechky's decade-long barbecue hobby before growing into the permanent Kendall storefront it is today, according to dining coverage from Motek. The restaurant has since become a local favorite for its smoked meats and burnt ends, and it previously drew attention in Hoodline's quest for the perfect patty coverage. This week it takes on a different role, as the Get REDD Foundation partners with the restaurant to find new bone marrow donors.

The first 100 people to register will be invited to Apocalypse BBQ, where they will receive cheek swabbing to join the stem cell and bone marrow donor registry, along with a free pulled pork sandwich. Additional details will be sent to those first 100 registrants once they sign up. Registration is open to people 18 and older, and the process starts with nothing more than a cheek swab.

Why Local Donor Drives Matter So Much

The math behind these community drives is stark. Roughly 70% of patients who need a blood stem cell or bone marrow transplant do not have a fully matched donor within their immediate family, according to data published by the New York State Department of Health. That leaves most patients dependent on public registries stocked by volunteers like the ones Apocalypse BBQ hopes to sign up this week.

The odds get even tougher along racial and ethnic lines. Research reported by Keck Medicine of USC found that Hispanic and Latino patients have only a 48% chance of finding a fully matched unrelated donor on the national registry, compared to a 79% match rate for white patients. That gap underscores why community swab drives in diverse areas like Kendall carry outsized importance for expanding registry representation. Transplant physicians also request donors between ages 18 and 35 about 80% of the time, per the same New York State Department of Health guidance, since younger donor cells tend to produce better survival outcomes, though people up to age 60 can still join the registry.

Vianca Perez Carries the Message to a New Generation

Vianca Perez, Esquerdo's daughter, has become an advocate for bone marrow donation in her own right. Perez has said that her aunt's donation enabled her own existence, since without it her mother would never have survived to have children. She has framed the stakes plainly, saying donors can save a family and affect generations far beyond the patient in front of them.

Severe aplastic anemia, the condition that nearly took Esquerdo's life, is exceptionally rare, striking an estimated 2 to 3 people per million annually, or roughly 500 to 1,000 new U.S. diagnoses each year, according to the National Organization for Rare Disorders. The disorder occurs when bone marrow fails to produce enough new blood cells. Clinical research from the National Institutes of Health indicates that modern transplants for severe aplastic anemia now achieve long-term survival rates of 80% to 90% when a fully matched donor is available, a marked contrast to the uncertainty Esquerdo faced in 1995.

From Survivor to Foundation Founder

Esquerdo started the Get REDD Foundation in 2018 to support people affected by rare blood disorders and to raise awareness about stem cell and bone marrow donation. The foundation holds celebration dinners honoring survivors and hosts an annual wellness event featuring fitness and nutrition workshops. Its outreach also incorporates dance and performance art as therapeutic tools for survivors, according to materials from the Gift of Life Marrow Registry, a detail that resonates personally with Esquerdo, who was a passionate dancer before her 1995 diagnosis.

Beyond her advocacy work, Esquerdo has built a career in commercial lending, previously serving as Senior Vice President and SBA Director at US Century Bank and earning recognition as the 2026 Coleman SBA Loan Broker of the Year, according to the Coleman Report. She has said that bone marrow donation can offer patients hope that healing is possible.

The Financial Weight Families Carry

Even with a donor match, the cost of treatment can be devastating. A single bone marrow transplant can exceed $1 million in total medical costs, and health insurance frequently omits non-medical expenses like lodging, travel, and lost wages, according to financial breakdown data published by the Get REDD Foundation. Long hospital stays and lost income often compound the physical toll rare blood disorders take on families.

Local 10 has partnered with Get REDD and Apocalypse BBQ to promote this week's drive as part of its Good News South Florida segment, which airs Fridays on Local 10 morning news at 10 a.m. and encores Fridays at 3:30 p.m. and Sunday mornings at 6 a.m. The segment was reported by Mayte Padron Cordones, an Emmy-award winning journalist who joined WPLG in 2001 and now serves as director of the station's community relations department.