UMaine Office Staff Seeks Gift of Life on Behalf of Colleague
Contact: Tammy Light, 581-1293; Joe Carr, 581-3571
ORONO — When Nathan Cunningham’s colleagues in the University of Maine Office of Student Records learned last May he had been diagnosed with Myelodysplastic Syndrome (MDS), a precursor to leukemia, they asked how they could help.
Cunningham asked if they would help organize a bone marrow donor registration drive to add new names — and new “matches” — to the National Marrow Donor Program (NMDP) Registry.
His doctor was able to find a donor match for Cunningham on the NMDP registry, and in the search process, Cunningham learned how critical the need is for bone marrow donors, particularly from minority groups, and how improved the donation process has become over the years. He also learned what it feels like to face a terminal illness and to depend on strangers for a possible cure.
Now, what began as a modest proposal for the university’s first donor registration drive on Oct. 17 has snowballed into what organizers hope will become a major regional event. Sponsored in conjunction with the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute in Boston, the NMDP, and several campus groups, the registration drive is gaining support from all corners of UMaine and beyond. Gov. John Baldacci plans to attend the opening of the registration drive.
The response has been overwhelming, says Tammy Light, interim manager of Student Records. Eastern Maine Medical Center has asked to become part of the daylong registration drive. The UMaine Greek Council has agreed to donate its Greek Week fundraising proceeds to offset swab test costs for those who cannot afford the fee, and individuals have contacted Light to offer donations.
“We’ve had tremendous support from students on this campus,” Light says. The goal was to have 400 people take the swab test and volunteer for the marrow donor registration list. She now expects more than twice that number to participate.
Oct. 17, from 8:30 a.m.-5:30 p.m. in the Coe Room of the Memorial Union, students, faculty, staff and community members will take a quick cheek swab test to see if they are eligible to be a marrow or blood stem cell donor. The processing cost is $52; however, college students with an ID – and members of minority groups – are tested free. A limited number of scholarships are available for others, thanks to donations. Light says that people who are ineligible to donate can still help by contributing financially.
The need for people of American Indian, Alaskan Native, Asian, Pacific Islander, African American, Hispanic, Latino, Native Hawaiian and multiple-race heritage to join the donor registry is especially high, says Cunningham, since the match pool is extremely limited for people of those ethnicities.
Cunningham thinks many students of many ethnic backgrounds will volunteer to be swab-tested, if they realize that they might be able to make a life or death difference for someone with MDS or leukemia, a cancer of the blood.
“How many of these students on campus do you think have known someone with cancer?” Cunningham asks. “Probably 100 percent. How many of that 100 percent would help somebody if they could?”
Cunningham, 31, served in the U.S. Navy before enrolling in UMaine’s electrical engineering program; he works part time in the UMaine Veteran’s Affairs Office. He says he and his wife Aprill are overwhelmed by the support he’s received.
“It’s unfathomable,” says Cunningham, formerly of Wiscasset. “I’ve been a member of this campus community as a full-time student since January and now everyone’s jumping through hoops to fulfill a little request, to start a bone marrow registration drive. It’s unbelievable.”
Cunningham will undergo chemotherapy and radiation treatments in the coming months to kill the defective marrow in his bones. With a small amount of new, donated marrow cells, he hopes to grow healthy new marrow. Bone marrow regenerates blood cells that help the body fight infection, carry oxygen to organs and allow wounds to heal. Without functioning blood cells, people die.
Information about who is eligible to be a marrow donor and other details are available on the websites of the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute (www.dana-farber.org/nmdp) and the NMDP (www.marrow.org).
The processes for blood cell and marrow donation processes today are much safer, less invasive and cause less discomfort than in earlier times, according to the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute. For more information about the registration drive and swab tests, Light can be reached at 581-1293.