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.

Thursday, August 23, 2012

This Good Morning America story is a must-see! Please register as a bone marrow donor. You never know whose life you might save. This beautiful African American woman was saved by a wonderful, selfless stranger, a Caucasian young man. I always thought that you could only match someone from your own race or ethnicity, but it ain't necessarily so!!! Thank you so much to Vicky Ellison for bringing this to my attention. :-)  Click on the link below to watch/read the story:

Cancer Survivor Meets Her Bone Marrow Donor for First Time on GMA
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