State Representatives Michael Ferguson (R-138), Will Duff (R-2) and Stephen Harding (R-107) along with ‘Be the Match’ Registry hosted a Western Connecticut State University (WestConn) Marrow Donor Drive on November 9th.
The Danbury legislators were able to recruit many new volunteers to join the “Be the Match Registry” – the largest and most diverse registry in the world to find a life-saving donor.
The issue of promoting the marrow drive became personal for State Rep. Michael Ferguson after having a friend develop leukemia and saw the need for a bone marrow donor.
“I am overwhelmed with the support from our WestConn community for this Marrow Drive. As I have said, you never know, one person might be able to save someone’s life with a simple swab of the cheek. This drive increases the size of the national donor database and provides additional chances of cancer survival for people who have this terrible disease,” said Rep. Michael Ferguson, who also made a donation and joined the ‘Be The Match’ registry.
Rep. Will Duff knows a little about life-saving donations. He is a recipient of a double-lung transplant.
“I could not be more thrilled to have participated in this Marrow Donor Drive. This is truly an opportunity to provide patients with a second chance at life. I want to thank everyone who came out and donated,” said Rep. Will Duff.
All that is required to join the registry is a small amount of paperwork and a couple of painless swabs of the inside of the mouth. Individuals between the ages of 18 and 44 are eligible.
In 2011, legislation was signed into law (P.A.11-88) which increased the number of people tested and added to the donor list -- and thereby increasing the number of transplant matches found, as well as decreasing the amount of time patients are on the list before transplant -- would reduce the cost of the medical treatment that would otherwise be covered by insurance as medically necessary in lieu of transplantation.
According to the ‘Be the Match Registry’ every three minutes someone diagnosed with cancer like leukemia or lymphoma. For many of those patients the best hope for a cure is a mayor or stem cell transplant. And 70% of them will not have a matching daughter in their family they will turn to be the match to find their lifesaver someone like you.
Bone marrow transplant is an effective treatment for more than 70 life-threatening diseases, including Non-Hodgkin's Lymphoma, Leukemia, and other cancers. In order for a bone marrow transplant to happen, a simple blood test must first be done to find donors with the closest bone marrow match possible, so the patient has the best chance of a successful transplant. Some patients never find an appropriate match, and die while waiting on the list for bone marrow transplant.
Currently, it is very difficult for a patient to find a donor, simply because of improbability. Each year approximately 10,000 patients in the U.S. search the national database, which has 10 million participants, for potential bone marrow donors. However, just half of those patients will actually find a match in the database.
For more information visit the National Marrow Donor Program website at www.marrow.org.