Aaron Sekulov and his wife, Kelley, are going to University of Michigan Medical Center for his leukemia treatment. Sekulov, a Marine Raider, received a second round of chemotherapy this week. (Aaron Sekeulov)
Time is running out for a 35-year-old Marine Corps Raider who needs a life-saving stem cell transplant after he was diagnosed in January with a highly aggressive form of leukemia.
Friends of Aaron Sekulov, of Michigan, have launched an urgent online campaign to find a match for him.
“Now one of our Platoon 11 heroes needs our help. Right now, Aaron and his family are hoping that somewhere out there is a donor match who can help give him a second chance,” Aerial Recovery, a veteran-led nonprofit, posted on Facebook.
Sekulov joined the Marine Corps in 2014 and served in a scout sniper platoon before moving into a special operations role in 2018.
After two deployments to the Middle East, he opted to continue in the Marine Corps Reserve, while attending graduate school at the University of Michigan, according to his family.
Sekulov transferred to the MARSOC Reserve Detachment in 2025, where he currently serves.
Sekulov had a second round of intensive chemotherapy this week, with his wife, Kelley, by his side, said Chelsey Simoni, an Army veteran and chief health officer at HunterSeven Foundation.
The foundation supports post-9/11 service members with serious medical conditions and has launched a fundraiser to help Sekulov and his wife cover their basic expenses, as he receives treatment.
“I am grateful and humbled in this time of need by the demonstration of family that my wife and I have received from people who don’t even know us, people who are lifting us up, letting us know that they are here,” Sekulov said.
His diagnosis is presumed to be service connected under the PACT Act, which provides benefits to veterans who become sick or injured from toxic exposures during military service, including from burn pits, industrial solvents, radiation and other hazardous materials.
Sekulov learned about his diagnosis after going to urgent care for a sore throat and swollen tonsils that had persisted for several weeks.
He followed up with a visit to a hospital emergency room, where blood work and other diagnostic tests revealed he had acute myeloid leukemia.
A fundraiser has been launched to help Aaron Sekulov and his wife cover their basic costs, as he receives treatment for an aggressive form of leukemia, diagnosed in January 2026. (Aaron Sekulov)
“I went into the hospital for a random sore throat. Otherwise, I was healthy and fit, running and working out. Getting the diagnosis was a shock. It was a surreal experience, for sure,” Sekulov said.
Acute myeloid leukemia is an aggressive cancer of the blood and bone marrow that involves the rapid growth of immature myeloid cells, called myeloblasts.
The disease requires prompt treatment, often including chemotherapy, targeted therapies and stem cell transplants, according to the American Cancer Society.
“The mutations driving his leukemia act almost like a stuck gas pedal in a car — a signaling receptor that stays permanently switched on, continuously telling cells to grow and divide,” Simoni said.
“The immediate goal is to push the leukemia into remission,” Simoni said.
But remission alone will not be enough to stop the disease.
Sekulov said he will need a stem cell transplant, which is an infusion of healthy blood-forming stem cells, because his marrow is diseased.
A suitable donor is someone whose human leukocyte antigens, also known as HLAs, closely match those of the patient, according to the National Cancer Institute.
More than 1,300 potential donors have submitted cheek swabs since the online campaign for him launched several weeks ago.
Every swab increases the chance of finding a match that could save his life, Simoni said.
Aaron Sekulov joined the Marine Corps in 2014 and served in a scout sniper platoon before moving into a special operations role in 2018. Sekulov is shown at sniper training in Colorado. (Aaron Sekulov)
Aaron Sekulov’s work in special operations included two deployments to the Middle East. “He has served in the shadows as a critical skills operator, in places across the world, doing what less than 0.1% of the world can or will do,” according to a description of Sekulov for a fundraiser to help him cover costs for medical care. (Aaron Sekulov)
Sekulov does not have immediate family members who might be a suitable donor, he said.
Registration involves a self-administered or in-person cheek swab. There are no costs to the donor.
Sending in a swab does not commit an individual to do anything, Simoni said.
Veterans and other civilians can register as potential donors at DKMS, an international nonprofit with a mission to help patients with blood cancer and other blood disorders.
Active-duty military members are asked to sign up at Salute to Life, a nonprofit authorized by the Defense Department to register military personnel, dependents and non-military Defense Department employees who want to support patients in need of transplants.
“There are very simple opportunities available for people to make a life-or-death impact for someone else,” Sekulov said.
“For people like me who will benefit, it means the world,” Sekulov said. “Just the hope and faith I’ve felt from people, strangers, reaching out has incredible healing power.”
Links to register as donors
Civilians, veterans: http://swabforaaron.com/
Active duty, Guard, Reserve, military dependents, DOD civilians: https://www.salutetolife.org/join-now
Fundraiser
https://www.zeffy.com/en-US/donation-form/help-marsoc-raider-battle-blood-cancer
