All it requires is a healthy adult who is eligible to donate blood. It sounds simple, but it will really take a miracle.
Somewhere in the great debate about stem cell research, amazing ethical miracles have been overlooked. These miracles involve adult stem cells, taken from healthy donors or umbilical stem cells, taken from newborn babies. The cells are transplanted to victims of leukemia or other life-threatening blood disorders for whom there exists no other cure.
Each year, 30,000 adults and children in the United States are diagnosed with diseases for which a stem cell transplant could be a cure. But only thirty percent of them find a donor who matches within their family. If they don’t find a familial match, they look to the National Marrow Donor Program for a match in its registry.
Potential donors can be entered into the registry by donating a small vial of blood for antigen typing. People of the same race and ethnic group are more likely to be matches. If a match is made, a stem cell donation requires the donor to take five doses of a drug which will increase stem cells circulating in the bloodstream. The drug has few side effects and those are minor. The donation itself is little more than a blood donation.
Approximately 80 percent of patients find at least one potential match on their first search. Those are great numbers. My uncle is not in that eighty percent. Suddenly, the numbers appear grim and we become aware of how few people know the need for registered potential donors.
When my family extended its search beyond the United States national registry, I learned that nearly every eligible donor in the country of Norway is registered. Norwegians have a valuable human resource from which to draw. In our country, only 4 million volunteer donors are registered. There is an enormous need for greater numbers and greater diversity.
When Catholics profess to be pro-life, often they focus on the negative. We are against abortion. We are against embryonic stem cell research. Certainly, we must be very vocal in that opposition. But being pro-life means being for life. It means being supportive of families and pregnant women. It means being aware of and supportive of ethical stem cell research as a means of saving lives.
On May 1, at the Johnson Center at George Mason University, between 2:00 and 6:00 pm, potential donors will have an opportunity to be typed and entered into the National Registry. The project is fully funded and there is no cost to the donor. Donors must be between the ages of 18 and 60 and generally eligible to donate blood.
My uncle is of Norwegian and English/Scottish descent. Because his time is limited, we are asking potential donors of that ancestry to contact us prior to the drive at stemcellmiracle@aol.com or at (703)327-4077. We will expedite that typing.
I can’t donate stem cells. I had Hodgkin’s Disease twelve years ago and am ineligible to be a donor. One of the potential side effects of my treatment is leukemia. I have always cheered stem cell researchers, “Go, go, go! Learn all that you can. Find that cure! I have a family to raise and a life to live.” Before we began looking for a match for my uncle, I never considered how much that cure depends on the volunteer donors who recognize the sanctity of life and the great gift they have the potential to give. If you are pro-life and you are eligible, please roll up your sleeve. There is a miracle waiting to happen. It might be waiting for you.
(This article courtesy of the Arlington Catholic Herald.)
