Seeking Bone Marrow Donors

The following message was posted as a comment on the "Welcome Carol" post. If you haven't already registered as a bone marrow donor, please do.

I would like to introduce myself. My name is Fred Cross. I am a professor of genetics at the Rockefeller University, of Caucasian background, married to Elizabeth Kim, who arrived from Korea at the age of 12. We have a son, Sam, who is currently a senior at Harvard. Over the winter break he was diagnosed with acute myeloid leukemia. He has been undergoing extensive chemotherapy. It is possible that a final cure for this deadly disease may require a bone marrow transplant. Unfortunately, even though there are currently more than 7 million donors registered internationally, none are an exact tissue typing (HLA) match for Sam, since he has a relatively rare Caucasian haplotype from me and a more typical Asian one from his mom. Therefore, the most likely source for a perfect match for Sam are people with both Caucasian and Asian ancestry (1/2, 1/4 or 3/4 Asian could all be fine).

Since your organization is interested in issues arising from mixed race and culture, I am writing to ask if there are any of your members who might be interested in registering as bone marrow donors. Registering as a potential donor is completely painless, involving filling out a form and taking a cheek swab. Most potential donors are never asked to donate, but the donation process itself involves only some moderate inconvenience and possible discomfort, and of course has the potential to save a life. The removed stem cells are rapidly regenerated by the donor’s body so there are no medical consequences at all for the donor.

Kits for registering as a potential donor are available from DKMS Americas (http://www.dkmsamericas.org/donors/become.html) including a pre-paid FedEx package for returning the material. DKMS Americas will provide HLA testing and entry into the registry for absolutely anybody independent of racial or ethnic background, for no fee.

DKMS Americas will also help you organize a local drive if you are at all interested in doing this. Mostly they need a local contact person.

Another organization that will provide kits through the mail, and that also helps organize drives, is AADP: http://www.aadp.org/become_a_donor.html. AADP specializes in people of Asian or part-Asian extraction.

Sam is registered on Facebook, and you can also get some information about him on a website generated by his uncle: http://www.helpsamiam.com.

I would like to emphasize that our interest here extends way beyond just finding a donor for our son. In the U.S., only about a fifth of patients needing bone marrow transplants can find donors, and this problem is particularly acute for those of mixed racial backgrounds, due to differing distributions of HLA types among human sub-populations. We encourage people of all ethnic backgrounds to register.

--Kimchi Mamas

Comments

[halfmama]

To Sam and his family:
My heart and prayers go out to you. I am registered already and I hope that others see this post and your site and decide to register too. Thank you for sharing your story.

Good luck to Sam and your family. I hope that you find a match very very soon.

[Summer]

Dear Sam and Sam's Family,
Thank you for sharing your story and the courage and strength you are using to seek answers...

I wish the best for you.

[honglien123]

Dear Fred,

Thank you for sharing your story. I have registered to the AADP and have forwarded this link to my sisters in law who are the same mix as your son.

Wishing you, your family, and especially Sam the best of luck.

[linda lazy]

i wish you and your family well.
being a person of a korean/mexican-american background i registered some time ago in the hopes that a procedure which took me less than 30 minutes to do, could possibly help others.
my sister is registered as well...

too bad we weren't a match for your son;
we would of gladly given.

[Lucy]

I'd love to be tested and put in the database. I am also due to deliver my 2nd child in a week with no plans for her cord blood as of yet. Would there be anyway to test it for a possible match? She would also be of 1/2 Korean, 1/2 various European descent (you can check on Geni.com to see if you share any common ancestors with my husband's 1200 known relatives (!)).

[kim]

Dear Sam and family,
Like several of the other Kimchi Mama readers, I'm sending away for the test kit asap. I have the same ethnic mix as Sam and would feel so lucky to be able to help anyone facing this disease. Your story increased my awareness of the issues that multiracial people may encounter when it comes to the matching-donor process - thank you. Best wishes and many prayers for a full recovery.

[Nina]

I've just e-mailed asking for the kit. I also have the same ethnic mix as Sam and I would be honored to have the opportunity to save someone's life.

I've also sent an e-mail to the mothers at my multi-ethnic church in the hopes that some of them will also choose to join the donor registry.

I will be keeping your son in my prayers...I hope for a full recovery!

[Jess]

I am a registered donor. Thank you for trying to get the word out. God bless all of you.

[Tina]

Dear Fred,
I too am half-Korean/half-Caucasian, and ordered a kit immediately after reading your post. My prayers and well-wishes are with you, Sam and your family.

[Rachel]

I'm 1/4 Korean, thinking of doing the bone marrow registry at work - didn't realize this was an area of need!

[leigh corley]

my cousin is 3 and he is seeking a bone marrow transplant he is mixed race if and body could help me find a match could u please e mail me with some information please

[leigh corley]

i hope your prayers will be answered i we be praying for u and your son