Gratitude For Your Help
I am sure that you receive an email or two like this occasionally. I usually do not pass them on, post them, or even read them. For some reason, I felt compelled to share. Let me start out by saying that I do not know this person, the family, or even the validity of this claim. I did, however, do a quick search and I see there is a lot of publicity about this individual and the search for a donor.
My main focus in this posting is that it is a really good thing to be on the Bone Marrow Donor list. I signed up years ago, had the initial blood tests conducted and then just waited. A few years later, I was contacted about a possible match! The next step was to perform the next round of testing. Unfortunately, I did not match.
If you have been reading the blog for sometime, you will know that I am a frequent blood and Platelet donor. My drivers license also shows that I am an organ donor! I am grateful to help others out whenever I can, even
when I am no longer physically here! I urge you to consider the same.
Be Well.
Here is the email I received that ‘inspired’ this post:
The below message was forwarded from my daughter, Paige. It is about a 4-year old boy in my grandson’s (Max) nursery school, whose life depends on finding a bone marrow donor match. As set forth below, and on the embedded links, it is really easy to sign up and pretty painless to donate if you happen to be a match. Even though some of you (like us) are over 60 and can not donate, you may have friends or relatives who could. Please register if you care to (and qualify), and please forward to others. I can’t imagine what this family is going through – maybe you or someone you know could truly be a life-saver.
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Dear Parents,
Our much loved St. Columba’s Nursery School student, Devan Tatlow (Caterpillar Class), needs your help. He’s four and has relapsed with a rare form of high-risk leukemia. His doctors believe his life depends on a bone marrow transplant that they hope to do after 12 weeks of chemotherapy.
What is difficult is finding a donor match – 1 in 200,000 in his case, we’ve been told – and we haven’t found one yet. You or someone you know might be the person who can save Devan’s life. All you need to do is a simple cheek swab to find out. The organizations below will send you a kit. Donating is easy – these days it’s much like a simple blood draw.
1.PLEASE, REGISTER NOW. The test is easy & free, but processing takes time (10 weeks in the UK), and Devan doesn’t have much. Register below.
2.PLEASE FORWARD THIS ON TO OTHERS. Anyone can be a match, but those who are mixed Indian/Caucasian have an even better chance of helping Devan. Please, please, cut and paste this message to strip out email addresses and forward this to everyone you can. By forwarding this email to at least 10 people now, we can spread the word to 50,000 p
ossible donors within 48 hours.
3. VISIT DEVAN’S SITE – www.matchdevan.com (this site is no longer valid) we will be including details on how to organize your own drive, valuable information on leukemia and FAQ’s on registering and donation.
WHERE TO REGISTER
In the US go to Be The Match Bone Marrow Registry –
http://www.marrow.org/JOIN/Join_Now/join_now.html (*you need to be 60 or under*)
In the UK go to the Anthony Nolan Trust, http://bit.ly/cpkxuy (another link no longer valid) (you’ll need to be 40 or under)
In other countries go to Bone Marrow Donors Worldwide,
http://bmdw.org/index.php?id=addresses_members&no_cache=1
Finally, if you’re pregnant, your cord blood is particularly valuable for helping children like Devan – please look here to learn more:
http://parentsguidecordblood.org/content/usa/banklists/publicbanks_new.shtml?navid=15 (sorry – last link and this is also expired 🙁 )
Thank you so much for helping.