Last February, Shelley Eaves got the kind of news no one ever wants to hear: after enduring chemotherapy for leukemia in 2010, her cancer had returned.
She now needs a stem cell transplant. Since none of EavesB次元官网网址� siblings are a match, itB次元官网网址檚 up to Canadian Blood Services OneMatch Stem Cell and Marrow Network to find a donor within its database.
B次元官网网址淚 started doing some research and realized thereB次元官网网址檚 such a huge need and a lot of the wrong type of donors on the database,B次元官网网址� Eaves said.
About 90 per cent of donors are women. Of the 10 per cent of men donors, only four per cent are within the optimal 17 to 35 age group, which provides the best post-transplant outcomes.
Suitable matches are also most likely found within a shared ethnic background, yet currently 75 per cent of all donors are caucasian. There is a strong need for young, diverse, male donors.
B次元官网网址淲eB次元官网网址檙e really reaching out to any ethnic community, whether itB次元官网网址檚 Asian, Southeast Asian, First Nations ... the best chance of a match comes from within your own genetic ethnic group. ThereB次元官网网址檚 a need from within those communities.B次元官网网址�
EavesB次元官网网址� employer, Royal Bank of Canada, for which the 58-year-old works as a community development manager, got behind the cause, along with the University of Victoria.
The two groups will host OneMatch B次元官网网址淪wab MobB次元官网网址� donor registration drive events aimed at attracting optimal donors. Registration takes about 20 minutes and requires getting a cheek swabbed.
Swab Mobs are set for Nov. 15 from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. at The Atrium, 800 Yates St. and Nov. 16 from 5:30 until 9 p.m. at UVicB次元官网网址檚 McKinnon Gym.
The UVic Vikes menB次元官网网址檚 and womenB次元官网网址檚 basketball teams have joined the campaign to register optimal stem cell donors to make OneMatch more reflective of CanadaB次元官网网址檚 population.
B次元官网网址淲e understand the need to identify as many healthy young adult donors as possible and we are happy to support both OneMatch and RBC in helping increase the number of donors,B次元官网网址� said Clint Hamilton, director of Vikes athletics and recreation.
Nearly 1,000 Canadians are waiting for a stem cell donor.
B次元官网网址淚t takes time,B次元官网网址� Eaves said of her own wait for a donor. B次元官网网址淚tB次元官网网址檚 very normal for it to take six months and many people wait much, much longer to find one.B次元官网网址�
See for more information.
nnorth@saanichnews.com
