Meet Peyton. He is two years old and loves toy cars, trucks, trains, and of course, playing with the iPhone. Peyton was diagnosed with a rare immune deficiency disease called Chronic Granulomatous Disease at four months old. About 1 in a million people have CGD, a disorder in which certain immune system cells do not function normally. These cells are unable to kill off bacteria and fungi. CGD patients have to be treated with drugs daily and avoid certain things and places, otherwise they could have serious infections that result in death.
The cure for this disease is a bone marrow transplant. Unfortunately, Peyton does not have a bone marrow match. According to the Be The Match Registry website, Asian donors only represent about 7% of the registry. Patients are more likely to match someone of their own race and ethnicity. And with Peyton being mixed Vietnamese and Chinese, his chances of finding a match is even lower.
The brothers of Lambda Phi Epsilon and the ladies of Sigma Psi Zeta at UW invite you to get swabbed at our bone marrow drive to help Peyton find a match! Peyton and his mother will also be visiting our booth periodically throughout the week. We’ll have volunteers on hand to help you out with the simple registration procedures and dispel common bone marrow myths. Partnering with Puget Sound Blood Center, Asian American Donor Program, and DoSomething.org, our mission is to get as many people to register to save lives of patients suffering from leukemia and other blood born illnesses.
FAST FACTS
> Leukemia kills more children each year than any other disease.
> Young people age 18-24 are the bone marrow donors needed most.
> Only 30% of patients needing a marrow transplant can find a match within their family; the rest rely on complete strangers.
> The current registry has more than 7 million registered donors, but only 25% of consists of ethnic minorities.
> No pieces of bone are taken during marrow donation; only the liquid marrow found inside the pelvic bone is needed to save the patient’s life.
COMMUNITY IMPACT
> http://dailyuw.com/news/2010/nov/10/greeks-promote-bone-marrow-registration/
> http://www.iexaminer.org/news/features/saved-strangers-life/
RESOURCES
> http://www.dosomething.org/spit
> http://www.aadp.org/
> http://marrow.org/
FACEBOOK EVENT
> https://www.facebook.com/events/325499590891521/