Bermudians respond to stem cell donor drive in droves
The stem cell donor drive that took place at King Edward VII Memorial Hospital at the weekend was ?wonderful?, according to Kathleen Whalen of the Boston-based Dana-Farber Cancer Institute.
This weekend, 229 people volunteered to be part of the National Marrow Donor programme. They may be called upon to save the life of a person they have never met.
?One Bermudian has already come up for a potential match. We are still waiting but he is probably going to be the one who is picked. We have already spoken to him and it is likely he will go ahead with it,? Ms Whalen said.
She said that the potential for finding a match for Bermudian Diane Dismont was ?better now?. Ms Dismont has a type of cancer that affects the blood and bone marrow.
?It is difficult, since a match had not been found from eight million people. Diane must have a rare combination. But if there is anyone in the world who would be very likely to have a match (for Diane) it would be most likely to be on the Island,? she said.
Ms Whalen said that Bermudians may be very valuable to the donor programme because of our ?mixed heritage.?
She said that Bermudians are above average when it comes to being matches for saving sick people as usually one match is found in every 300 people.
?This is really encouraging. It tells us this is really important to recruit in Bermuda.
?We are most likely to find a match in a mixed heritage group. One patient we have has already had a negative search for matches from the eight million donors in the National Donor Programme. We screened all of their family for a negative result. But if we come to Bermuda, and test the whole community. We possibly could find a match,? she said.
She said that genetics are important in finding a match.
?Similar to skin colour and eye colour ... three cells come from the mother and three cells come from the father,? she said.
?If anyone else is looking to be tested they can call KEMH and ask for someone in the lab, who will be able to set up an appointment. We can still recruit people,? she said.
