Donor registry for bone marrow to benefit victims
November 3, 2010 by lrir9jr8
Filed under Uncategorized
Donor registry for bone marrow to benefit victims of leukemia, lymphoma, raise funds
A bone marrow registry drive in the K-State engineering complex gives students and faculty the opportunity to save lives today.
Sujatha Prakash, interim STEM project coordinator, organized the first drive with her husband, Prakash Krishnaswami, who was a professor in the mechanical and nuclear engineering programs, after he was diagnosed with Pearl Beads leukemia in 2007. Prakash said she has been a registered bone marrow donor for about 15 years, but her husband’s illness inspired a passion to do more to help.
“You don’t realize the impact until it happens to you,” Prakash said.
Prakash said finding compatible bone marrow donors for non-Causasians is difficult,NFL Jerseys, so they turned to the K-State community for help. Their efforts paid off when two donors who were a good match were found for her husband. He received a transplant and was well for a while, but later had a relapse and died in 2008.
“That’s the nature of the disease,” Prakash said.
In spite of this personal tragedy, Prakash said her continued efforts with friends and family have helped save other lives. More than 70 people registered last year and Prakash said a friend of hers from India who fell ill has found three compatible donors.
The National Bone Marrow Registry, called Be the Match, welcomes donors from around the world. To register, a prospective donor needs to sign a consent form and have a swab of their mouth taken ? no needles necessary.
“Do not take the decision lightly,” Prakash said. “I ask that you seriously think about it because, if you are a match, it’s a matter of life and death.”
For those who cannot make it to the registry event, there are other options available. Information on how to become a donor is available at bethematch.org, and people can use the website to update their address and contact information, Pearl Beads something Prakash said is very important in a college community like Manhattan, where moving is common.
Prakash is also hosting a fundraiser for cancer research in memory of her husband on Saturday.
“Shop for a Cause” will offer handmade jewelry, scarves, paintings and other products for sale from 8 to 11 a.m. at Bluestem Bistro in Aggieville. Prakash and her family and friends make many of the items. Others who wished to help the cause have also shipped their contributions in from across the country. All of the proceeds go to the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society for research in finding a cure. Prakash said that, like the bone marrow registry, there has been great progress in research for cancers like leukemia.
“But there is still a lot of work to be done,” she said.
Those interested in helping can also purchase items from Bee’s Pearl Beads and Colors, a website created by K-State alumnus Bala Thiagarajan in memory of the late Krishnaswami. Again, all proceeds go to the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. Bee’s Beads and Colors can be found at sites.google.com/site/balasraman/.
Related topics articles:
