/PRNewswire/ -- Hundreds of Aflac agents and employees will be queuing up in the next few days to have their cheeks swabbed as part of a new company initiative to boost the rolls of the National Marrow Donor Program. Aflac's Bone Marrow program kicks off at the company's annual national sales conference on December 12 in Atlanta.
The bone marrow registration effort was inspired by Steve Karas, an Aflac regional sales coordinator in Boston, whose stem cell donation recently helped save the life of Matthew Welling, a young Aflac claimant in New York. Matthew's parents had been told that without a transplant, he stood little chance of living beyond childhood. Matthew's doctors searched the National Bone Marrow registry for a donor and found Steve Karas.
"Through Steve's story we learned more about the pressing need for bone marrow registrants and wanted to do something as an organization to help," said Paul Amos, president and chief operating officer of the Georgia-based insurance company.
Indeed, the need is great. Individuals with life-threatening diseases such as leukemia and lymphoma must find a donor whose tissue type matches their own. Ideal candidates for a match are usually from the same ethnic background and race. The National Marrow Donor Program has about 11 million registrants today, but 61 percent of patients who need a bone marrow transplant do not receive one. And that's just among Caucasians. Among other racial groups, the match rate is far lower. For instance, about 83 percent of African Americans in need of a transplant do not receive one because African Americans are severely underrepresented on the donor registry. Individuals from racially or ethnically diverse heritage represent only 26 percent of the entire donor registry.
"On a daily basis, about 6,000 people search the registry looking for a life-saving match," said Dr. William G. Woods, director of the Aflac Cancer Center and Blood Disorders Service of Children's Healthcare of Atlanta. "Increasing the pool of registrants increases the likelihood of a match, and will save lives."
-----
www.fayettefrontpage.com
Fayette Front Page
www.georgiafrontpage.com
Georgia Front Page
Showing posts with label bone marrow registry. Show all posts
Showing posts with label bone marrow registry. Show all posts
Tuesday, December 16, 2008
Wednesday, May 07, 2008
A Donation That Makes Hopes And Dreams Come True
NAPSI-Every day someone makes the decision to save a life by becoming a marrow donor.
It’s a step that can save the life of the person who needs the marrow donation but it also helps transform the lives of those who donate.
Jackie Byrd is a good example of a person who gave a little bit of herself so that someone else could live. When she was in college she pledged a sorority with a community service project focused on raising awareness in the African American community about the need for more people to join the National Marrow Donor Program (NMDP) Registry.
When Byrd joined the Registry she recalls thinking, “It will never happen to me. I will never be called. I’m not the one--I’m not the chosen one.”
Many years later, Byrd did receive the call. She was asked to visit her local donor center for additional tests to confirm that she was indeed a match for a patient searching for a second chance of life. A week later a coordinator from the center called to tell her, “You are the one.”
Byrd’s commitment to donate her marrow was something she took very seriously. “As a teacher, I believe in children and I believe in lives, and if I’m going to walk the talk, this was something I had to do. There was no turning back once I was chosen.”
More than 6,000 men, women and children a day search the National Marrow Donor Program Registry for a life-saving donor. These patients have leukemia, lymphoma and other life-threatening diseases for which a marrow transplant could be their only hope for a cure. Patients like Paizley Carwell Bowens.
Paizley was born with sickle cell anemia--an inherited blood disorder that caused her to spend much of her life in and out of hospitals and in constant pain. Even though chemotherapy helped, it was not a cure.
Paizley’s doctors told her mother that she would need a marrow transplant. According to the NMDP, only 30 percent of patients have a matching donor in their family for a transplant. Unfortunately Paizley’s sister was not a match.
And so began Paizley’s search of the NMDP Registry of nearly 7 million people for a donor who could save her life. A donor who Paizley had never met who would be willing to step up and donate when called. That donor was Byrd.
“I thank God for people who are willing to give a little bit of themselves to bless children like me,” said Paizley. “Thanks to Jackie and all the other people who helped me, I will be able to make my hopes and dreams come true.”
Joining the NMDP Registry is easy. A few minutes of paperwork and a quick swab of the inside of the cheek is all it takes to be added to the Registry.
People who are interested in joining need to meet a few basic requirements: be between the ages of 18 and 60, meet general health guidelines and be willing to donate to any patient in need.
For more information about the National Marrow Donor Program and how you can save a life, visit www.marrow.org or call 1 (800) MARROW-2.
Teacher Jackie Byrd provided a life-saving marrow donation to Paizley Carwell Bowens.
It’s a step that can save the life of the person who needs the marrow donation but it also helps transform the lives of those who donate.
Jackie Byrd is a good example of a person who gave a little bit of herself so that someone else could live. When she was in college she pledged a sorority with a community service project focused on raising awareness in the African American community about the need for more people to join the National Marrow Donor Program (NMDP) Registry.
When Byrd joined the Registry she recalls thinking, “It will never happen to me. I will never be called. I’m not the one--I’m not the chosen one.”
Many years later, Byrd did receive the call. She was asked to visit her local donor center for additional tests to confirm that she was indeed a match for a patient searching for a second chance of life. A week later a coordinator from the center called to tell her, “You are the one.”
Byrd’s commitment to donate her marrow was something she took very seriously. “As a teacher, I believe in children and I believe in lives, and if I’m going to walk the talk, this was something I had to do. There was no turning back once I was chosen.”
More than 6,000 men, women and children a day search the National Marrow Donor Program Registry for a life-saving donor. These patients have leukemia, lymphoma and other life-threatening diseases for which a marrow transplant could be their only hope for a cure. Patients like Paizley Carwell Bowens.
Paizley was born with sickle cell anemia--an inherited blood disorder that caused her to spend much of her life in and out of hospitals and in constant pain. Even though chemotherapy helped, it was not a cure.
Paizley’s doctors told her mother that she would need a marrow transplant. According to the NMDP, only 30 percent of patients have a matching donor in their family for a transplant. Unfortunately Paizley’s sister was not a match.
And so began Paizley’s search of the NMDP Registry of nearly 7 million people for a donor who could save her life. A donor who Paizley had never met who would be willing to step up and donate when called. That donor was Byrd.
“I thank God for people who are willing to give a little bit of themselves to bless children like me,” said Paizley. “Thanks to Jackie and all the other people who helped me, I will be able to make my hopes and dreams come true.”
Joining the NMDP Registry is easy. A few minutes of paperwork and a quick swab of the inside of the cheek is all it takes to be added to the Registry.
People who are interested in joining need to meet a few basic requirements: be between the ages of 18 and 60, meet general health guidelines and be willing to donate to any patient in need.
For more information about the National Marrow Donor Program and how you can save a life, visit www.marrow.org or call 1 (800) MARROW-2.
Teacher Jackie Byrd provided a life-saving marrow donation to Paizley Carwell Bowens.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)