BY JUSTIN KOZLOSKI ’14
Senior Editor

The College will be hosting its second annual Swab to Save Bone Marrow Drive April 12.

This year’s bone marrow drive is run through the Ware Institute for Civic Engagement and coordinated by Hannah Sabbagh ’13, former public health intern for the Ware Institute, and Sarah Strong ’14, bone marrow drive coordinator.

The project was developed to increase the membership of the bone marrow registry. According to the DKMS America, the mission of bone marrow drives, such as Swab to Save, is to save lives by recruiting bone marrow donors for leukemia patients that need a bone marrow transplant.

Swab to Save works with the DKMS registry, which is the largest bone marrow donor center in the world.

By signing up with Swab to Save, students are simply agreeing to enter the registry. There are no invasive medical procedures for testing. All students need to do is swab the inside of their cheeks to collect cells for tissue typing. This information, as well an ID# for DKMS, is stored anonymously on the Be a Match Registry.

When one signs up to be a donor and puts their information into the registry, they are giving DKMS the ability to call them at any point up to their 61st birthday if they match with someone who needs a bone marrow transplant. However, one can change their mind at any time if they should choose to not be a donor.

The Swab to Save event will be held on April 12 from 12-6 p.m. in Booth Ferris.

“We are trying to register as many people as possible because it is very difficult for people to find matches,” Strong said.
According to DKMS America, currently six out of 10 patients never receive the transplant they need, and only five percent of the donor’s marrow is needed to save the patient.

If interested in learning more, attend the Swab to Save event or contact Sarah Strong at sarah.strong@fandm.edu.

justin.kozloski@fandm.edu

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