On Thursday afternoon, a stem cell drive is being held in north London to honour a resident who has been diagnosed with two types of cancer.
Londoner Ted Simkovich was previously diagnosed with chronic myeloid leukemia and, more recently, acute lymphoblastic leukemia.
According to the Canadian Cancer Society, both diseases originate in the blood’s stem cells, which are defined as “immature cells” that can develop into any cells in the bloodstream, according to Canadian Blood Services. Without stem cells, the body cannot produce the blood cells needed for the immune system to function properly.
Following his treatment, Simkovich will need a transplant.
Moriah Gerofsky, Simkovich’s niece, is an organizer of the drive which is held in affiliation with Canadian Blood Services.
“I am involved in a club at my university where we run blood drives and some cell drives. So, when my uncle needed a stem cell transplant, this was a great opportunity to run a drive back in London,” she said.
The drive will be running at the Chabad House at 1114 Richmond St. from 3 p.m. to 8 p.m. Gerofsky said that this is a drop-in style drive that will take less than 10 minutes.
“We will be swabbing those between 17 and 35, as those in this age group have been shown to produce the most optimal patient outcomes,” she said.
She explained that once a potential donor is swabbed, they are added to the Canadian and international registries where results can be accessed by transplant teams in search of matches all over the world. However, Gerofsky said that even if someone is a match and asked if they would like to donate, they are “by now means obligated” to do so.
“The actual donating process is no different than donating blood as they actually take out the stem cells from your blood, and then put the blood back in your body,” she said, calling it a very simple process that makes up about 90 per cent of donations.
Gerofsky said the second method of retrieval, in rarer cases, can be extracted through bone marrow, specifically in the back of the pelvic bone. This is done under general anesthetic and “only leads to mild soreness after.”
She said that some people get scared when they hear about the donation process, but says that it’s rare to be a match and even more rare to be asked to donate from bone marrow.
“I think that a lot of people don’t really know about stem cell donation, and I think there are a lot of misconceptions and questions surrounding it,” Gerofsky continued. “It’s not as scary as it sounds and all we’re doing Thursday is just swabbing the inside of your cheek.
“The chances of matching with someone in need are about one in 750,000, so it is crucial to get as many people registered as possible!” she exclaimed.
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