Harding’s College of Pharmacy will have it’s second annual bone marrow donor drive through “Be the Match” during Spring Sing weekend to add to the program’s global donor registry. The drive will be held in the Health Sciences Building lobby on March 29 from 12 p.m. to 6 p.m. and March 30 from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Will Doles, a fourth year student of clinical rotations in the College of Pharmacy, said “Be the Match” will be taking painless skin tissue samples at the drive to put people in the registry. “Be the Match” is a nonprofit organization that started in 1987 to help patients find bone marrow matches with willing donors.
“It is a great organization that helps many patients with terminal illnesses find marrow donors,” Doles said, “We are in a great position to add people to the registry because of the mixture of health science students and the giving nature of our Christian student population.”
According to Doles, Bone marrow is a scarce resource, even more so than blood. Because there are only a handful of blood types, it is much easier to match a patient with the correct blood. Doles said bone marrow has more genetic variations that must be matched in order to have a successful transplant.
“That is why we need as many people to join as possible, because it increases the chances of finding a match,” Doles said. “There are patients that search the registry every day and still have not found a match, especially minorities. The registry has a lack of African American and Latino donors, so it is much harder for these patients to find a match.”
Harding alumnus Jon Byron said deciding to donate bone marrow was one of the most important and fulfilling decisions he has made. Byron was initially motivated to sign up for the bone marrow bank in 2006 because of a donor drive organized by Harding students. Almost three years later he was informed he was a match.
“(Having) the opportunity to take part in a life saving procedure is a life changing experience — one that is rarely afforded us,” Byron said. “When I discovered that I was a match I quickly realized that there was no excuse that I could give — (there was) nothing more important than taking part in this procedure.”
Byron said since the procedure, he had the opportunity to meet the man he donated his bone marrow to. Byron said it was fulfilling to see the man living cancer-free, and knowing that God entrusted him with a part in the experience that saved the man’s life.
Students and visitors to campus between the ages of 18 and 44 are eligible to register for the drive. 90 percent of the donors chosen are between these ages, and they provide the best chance for a successful match. People between the ages of 45 and 60 may join online at the “Be The Match” website, www.marrow.com, if they qualify.
