In 1989, Canadian Blood Services established a national program called OneMatch for patients requiring stem cell transplants.
“Our mandate is to recruit donors on to the program as well as do the search component for a patient who may require stem cell transplant,” says Marylynn Pride, a Patient and Transplant Liaison Specialist for Canadian Blood Services.
At any given time, more than 900 Canadians are searching for an unrelated stem cell donor.
Registering online is simple and fast. A donor will complete a consent form and health assessment online and within one business day an accepted donor will receive a cheek swab kit in the mail.
“Once they are on our database, they are being searched continuously on behalf of patients in Canada and throughout the world,” says Marylynn.
Less than 25 percent of patients who need stem cell transplants will find a match in their family. Most people depend on unrelated donors.
Andy Law, a loyal donor, made his first donation in 2010 and has not looked back since. “It’s like winning the lottery. It’s not something that money can buy. I’m proud of myself and my family is too,” says Andy.
Currently 340,000 Canadians have registered online but more eligible donors are needed, specifically young males with ethnic backgrounds in between the ages of 17 and 35.
For more information, click here.
The
community is coming together to support all patients, with a swab event in
honour of Daryl on October 27 at the Halleluja Chinese Evangelical Free Church
in Scarborough between 10 am and 4pm. At the swab event, registrants will use
cotton swabs to swab the inside of their cheeks (much like on TV’s CSI and
Bones). This will provide a tissue sample that will be added to the OneMatch
database and can be used to identify a registrant as a potential match for a
patient in need
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