Indians and the Gift of Life

I found out recently that a friend's cousin was diagnosed with stage 4 lymphoma.  She's 34 years old and has two children.  She's in desperate need of a bone marrow transplant, but has been unable to find a donor.  I also found out that that part of the problem is that there aren't enough Indians who are registered donors.  Only one percent of the 10 million plus people on the donor registry are Indian.  ONE PERCENT!!!   And that's actually a problem because heritage does play a factor in matching. 

From the National Marrow Donor Program website:
Racial and ethnic heritage are very important factors. Because tissue types are inherited, patients are most likely to match someone of their own race or ethnicity. Today, there simply aren't enough registered donors of diverse racial and ethnic heritage. Adding more diverse donors increases the likelihood that all patients will find a life-saving match.

As someone who had lymphoma, this hits hard.  I could have easily been in the same situation.  And then what?

I'm sending out the word to encourage my friends and family to get on this list.  Please participate in any donor program that may be going on in your area.  If there isn't anything, please go to the National Marrow Donor Program website to see what you can do to help.  All it takes is a little bit of time to do so.  But that little time can help give more precious time to someone in need.