Have you every known anyone with leukemia? This cancer affects children and adults and can be cured with a bone marrow transplant. The National Marrow Donor Program maintains a list of people who might be willing to donate marrow if their tissue matches what a patient needs.
A person of any race, ethnicity or gender who is 18 to 60 years old and qualifies medically can become a volunteer potential marrow or blood stem cell donor. Please consider it. I did, and am on the list. People of color and multiracial people are especially needed. If you are interested, read some patient stories, read some donor stories, check the eligiblity requirements and donate the small sample of blood that is necessary to get on the list.
If you are pregnant, you can also donate your baby's umbilical cord blood. It too is life-saving.
If a patient is matched to you, you are under no obligation to donate. You may never be called, but without registering you will never know how much good you can do. You might even save a life.
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Recently, this technique was used to cure sickle cell amemia. See http://www.marrow.org/PATIENT/disease_info.html for a complete list of diseases that are treated by marrow and cord stem cell transplants.
Here are some other ways you can donate life.
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