PLYMOUTH, NH–Plymouth State University’s first ever bone marrow drive took place on Sept. 23, 2013. The Plymouth State University Student Nursing Association teamed with Delete Blood Cancer (DKMS), a well-established, non-profit organization, to host the event.
Bone marrow transplants are for blood cancer patients. These patients require transplanted marrow because theirs can no longer produce healthy blood cells. Bone marrow donors are hard to find, but finding a proper match is even harder, which is why DKMS and Plymouth State Nursing Association are there to do their part.
The two came together to organize a bone marrow donating drive. The drive itself was a chance for Plymouth State students to sign up to become potential bone marrow donors. Plymouth State nursing students Bianca Fabbo and Kim Cardillo were stationed in front of the Hartman Union Building to persuade students and those passing by to take a moment to sign up to be a donor.
The pair stated that, “we’re here to rope people in because we know that they probably won’t decided to become donors on their own.” Their line of choice to use on passing by students was “Want to save a child’s life?” The amount of students that decided to sign up proved that their persuading worked. When asked about how the day was going Fabbo said, “It’s only 12:30 and we’ve already had about 250 people come through which is great. We’re really hoping for around 500 total.”
PSU sophomore Carly Hudson said that she heard about the drive through the student activities fair and decided “Why not, I mean I could help someone.”
Dan Cheever, a sophomore, added, “I got stopped while I was walking by and they convinced me that it was the right thing to do.”
The process was simple, and relatively short. It began with paperwork asking for personal information so the donor can be contacted if they turn out to be a match. Every donor is informed that the chance of being a match for a patient that is in need of a bone marrow transplant is less than one percent. However, even though the chances of being a proper match are small, being a donor means that you are in the “lifelong lottery” as senior nursing student Rhonda Adams put it.
Once the paperwork was completed the donors were asked to move to a second table where they were asked to swab the inside of your mouth to obtain the DNA necessary to test the donor against the patients who need transplants. “Once your paperwork is in you became an official donor. Then, you are in the lottery until you turn 65 years old” said Adams. When asked if the nursing association was going to try to make the drive an annual event she said, “Since you’re in the lottery for life and we already got so many donors it will probably be every few years instead of annually.” She went on to say, “It’s a really great thing to do, and if you get chosen, you could be saving someone’s life.”