Friends of Kale Corbett, 10, will hold a bone marrow donor drive Dec. 17, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the First Baptist Church of Jefferson.
Corbett was diagnosed with leukemia (ALL, hypodiploid type) on Oct. 9. Because that is a rare form of leukemia, he will need a bone marrow transplant early in 2012.
Corbett has responded well to chemotherapy, but his doctors need to find a bone marrow donor. Participation requires potential donors to fill out a form and get a cheek swab to see if there is a match.
Potential donors must be 18-55, in good general health, weigh at least 100 pounds but have a body mass index of 40 or lower and be willing to donate to any patient in need. The donor and patient must have at least eight tissue characteristics in common to be considered a match, but ideally would have 10. With 4,000 known characteristics that can occur in millions of combinations, forming a match is extremely difficult.
Donor information will be listed on the Be the Match Registry operated by DKMS, the world’s largest bone marrow donor center, until donors reach age 61.
The donor drive is in the church fellowship hall. The church is located at 246 Washington Street, Jefferson. A photo ID is required of all donors.
‘Get Swabbed for Kale’ bone marrow drive set Dec. 17
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#1
Jen
on
12/19/11 at 07:54 PM
[Reply]
Over 1200 folks showed up to get swabbed, how amazing is that?!!! Just shows again what a great town we live in, shows the strength of our community!! Not only will this hopefully prove beneficial to Kale, but also to Lord knows how many with it placing those who did get swabbed on the national registry!!! Way to go!!!! :)