National Bone Marrow Registry Needs Donors
October 27, 2003

By Dana Warren

The recent news that Rusty Hammer, the 50 year-old President of the Los Angeles Area Chamber of Commerce, has been diagnosed with leukemia, brings to mind the gift of life that most everyone can give by joining the National Marrow Donor Program.

Leukemia can only be cured by a successful bone marrow transplant. The most successful outcomes result from donations by parents and siblings. In situations where they are incompatible or unavailable, as with Rusty, the next step is an unrelated donor match through the National Bone Marrow Registry.

If you would like to find out more about what registering as a potential donor entails, visit http://www.marrow.org. If you are between 18 and 60 years old and in general good health, you can become a volunteer potential marrow donor. (Incidentally, racial and ethnic minorities suffer from even longer waiting lists, and so there is a particular need for donors from these communities.)

The primary registration and donation center in the Los Angeles are is City of Hope National Medical Center in Duarte, (626) 301-8483, or www.cityofhope.org/blooddonorcenter/donatingbm_sc.asp. Registration involves a blood test, and if you donate a pint of blood, there is no charge. Because the testing and administration of potential donor information can take a few weeks, it is better to act sooner rather than later. Rusty's life may be the one you save.

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