About Kethan

Ten-year-old Kethan was first diagnosed with leukemia (ALL) in 2006 at the age of four. He beat it twice but now it’s back for a third time. His doctors say his best hope for survival is a bone marrow transplant. The problem is finding a donor match. Kethan is of South Asian descent and Asian donors only make up seven percent of the bone marrow donor database.

Because the markers used in matching are inherited, patients are more likely to match someone from their own race or ethnicity. Adding more donors from diverse racial and ethnic backgrounds to the database increases the likelihood that all patients will find the match they need.

Since no match has been found, Kethan’s doctors are having to move forward with an alternative treatment because of no match. Unfortunately, there are thousands of stories similar to Kethan’s. Please register as a bone marrow donor and help improve the statistics for finding a bone marrow match.

So, what happens if you are a match? Once you are registered, you are in the database until your 61st birthday and could be matched at any time. Please go to www.getswabbed.org to understand more about this process and what it entails.

Friday, July 27, 2012

Bone Marrow Donor Drive This Weekend in Austin, Texas!

Sunday, July 29th, 2012
12:00 p.m.- 5 p.m.
Ronald McDonald House
1315 Barbara Jordan Blvd. (next to Dell Children's Medical Center)
Austin, Texas 78723
Free Parking

You can change the odds for patients like Kethan and so many others in need of a bone marrow transplant. All it takes is a simple cheek swab, and you can become a hero in waiting. Please join us on Sunday and bring along some friends! All ethnicities are needed and welcome! We need to BROADEN and DIVERSIFY the registry! TOGETHER WE CAN DO THIS!!
Posted by at

No comments:

Post a Comment

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)