Danny Ho’s decision to be a stem-cell donor was prompted by a story he read a few years ago.
It was the story of a British man suffering from leukemia who was in his dying moments. His sister, who was identified as a perfect match, would not agree to donate her bone marrow to save his life.
“I couldn’t believe it,” said Ho, 27, who works as an education assistant for autistic children at Buttonville Public School. “I have two sisters. That story made me think that if one of them needed help, I would definitely donate stem cells to her.”
Ho put his name up at OneMatch Stem Cell and Marrow Network, a specific division at Canadian Blood Services that recruits donors and matches them with patients that need help with stem cells.
He went through various tests with the registry to make sure he was medically fit and fully committed to donate. On June 12, 2013, he spent about six hours at Princess Margaret Hospital, where his stem-cell donation was taken.
“It feels like giving someone a second chance at life,” he said. “When I signed up, I knew I could be donating to somebody else, not necessarily my family member, so it’s good for the patient and their family, too.”
Ho is a perfect example of the demographic currently targeted by the OneMatch registry drive as potential donors.
MaryLynn Pride, transplant liaison specialist at OneMatch Stem Cell and Marrow Network, says there’s currently an emphasis on recruiting donors from diverse backgrounds.
“What we know from scientific research is that patients have a better chance at finding matches from donors within their diverse communities, particularly young males between the ages of 17 and 35,” said Pride. “It really is about community giving back to community. We are mainly looking at the quality of the donors and what the demand is from patients.
“We need to increase the number of donors on the registry because the need for stem-cell transplants is huge and has been on the increase every year,” said Pride.
“We’re always trying to provide the highest quality possible of donors and we do know that those are young males from diverse background.”
Understanding the need
- At any given time, close to 1,000 Canadians are waiting for a stem-cell match.
- Today, only 25 per cent of patients who need stem-cell transplants are able to find a match within their family.
- There are some 340,000 potential donors registered with OneMatch, three-quarters of whom are male.
- The process to donate stem cells can only begin when a match has been identified.
- You can help by joining Canadian Blood Services’ OneMatch Stem Cell and Marrow Network.
In honour of Sarah’s life, Metro is holding a swab drive for our staff.
Source:: Metro News
