I learned a hard reality when I lost a close friend at the young age of 30.  She battled a blood disease for years and I watched her fight for her life in every way possible.  At the end, the sad reality was there was not a bone marrow match for her on the bone marrow donor registry.  I watched her wait years for a donor to be identified before her time slowly expired.  But before she made her transition, Kelli wanted to be sure that waiting does not becomes terminal for anyone else suffering from a blood disease that can simply be addressed by a bone marrow transplant.  She fought back by organizing and educating anyone willing to listen about the importance of donating.

Part of her efforts included organizing a successful bone marrow drive where hundreds of people came out to support her.  Moved by Kelli’s plea, I signed up to be part of the registry.  It was not until 13-years later I was chosen to be a donor.  I recently received a call to donate marrow to a one-year old female struggling with a chronic juvenile disease.  Without hesitation I agreed.  While being briefed by the counselor, they shared the staggering number related to the lack of donors that exist in the registry, particularly people of color.  13 years after I lost my friend, I am still struck by the lack of donors who have the capacity to save a life.

This experience has shown me that we (people on the registry) have to better champions of an important issue that can save a life.

• 70% of patients in need of a marrow transplant do not have a matching donor in their family.
• To register as a bone marrow donor, a person swabs the inside of his or her cheek in order to provide the DNA needed to identify if he or she is a bone marrow match.
• The likelihood of finding a donor is estimated at 66% for African-American patients, 72% for Hispanics or Latinos, 73% for Asian and Pacific Islanders, 82% for American Indian and Alaska Natives, and 93% for Caucasian patients.
• To be a bone marrow donor in America, a person needs to be between 18 and 60 years old and in good health.

Be the Match registry asks a simple question – if you could save a person’s life from cancer, would you? Register at https://join.bethematch.org/s/landing

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