Give a little, save a life.
Bone marrow drives will be taking place from Tuesday through Thursday, 10 AM to 3 PM, at Bruin Plaza!
Read the story.
“My name is Matthew Nguyen and I am a UCLA alumni. I was diagnosed with Acute Myelogenous Leukemia (AML) in June of 2007. I went through 5 rounds of chemotherapy after I was diagnosed. Doctors said I had a good prognosis and chemotherapy alone would kill off the leukemia. Unfortunately, after spending many months in the hospital and 6 months of being cancer free, it has returned and everything has to be put on hold again, including graduate school and my wedding.
“While at UCLA, I was the Community Health Director for Vietnamese Reaching out to Aid the Community (now known as Vietnamese Community Health), on the Vietnamese Student Union (VSU) staff, and part of Asian Pacific Health Corps (APHC). One of my biggest projects then and something I was very passionate about was helping out with bone marrow drives with A3M (Asians for Miracle Marrow Matches). We held bone marrow drives at UCLA, churches, temples, and other southern California universities. Ironically, after years of campaigning for other blood cancer patients, I am now campaigning for myself.
“Without a bone marrow transplant, I may not live to see my next birthday. I thought I would turn to where I know our voices would be heard, where Bruins help other Bruins. I am asking everyone to become a registered bone marrow donor.”
THE PROCESS is very easy and pain free. It only consists of filling out a questionnaire and 4 quick swabs of the inside of your cheeks. No needles, no blood, just your saliva. By registering, it doesn’t mean you are donating your marrow right now. You will only be contacted if you are a potential match to a patient. If you are lucky enough to be called upon one day, you could be saving someone’s life.
THE FACTS Since there aren’t many Asians in the national registry, it is often hard to find a matching donor (matches are highly likely if within same ethnic background). Out of the total 7,407,312 people registered in the national registry, there are only 532,006 (7.2%) Asians, and 16,967 (0.2%) Vietnamese people.
www.teammatthew.org
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