An 8-year-old boy with leukemia has been waiting at Shands for a bone marrow transplant for about 20 months. He just found a match.
"There are kids like this all over the world," said Christie Atchison, a co-coordinator for the Bone Marrow Donor Drive. And she said she's hoping to find just as many donors.
On Monday and Tuesday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., the Bone Marrow Donor Drive will be swabbing cheeks in three locations on campus: Plaza of the Americas, Turlington Plaza and the Reitz Colonnade.
The swabs will be sent to the Gift of Life Bone Marrow Foundation to be analyzed, placed in a database and matched with transplant patients, Atchison said.
To register, students must sign a consent form, be in good health and be at least 18.
Footprints Buddy and Support Program, UF Hillel and Student Government are partnering to organize the drive for its second year. Footprints is a support program that assigns buddies to children in the oncology, transplant and immunology units of Shands at UF. Most of the children there are waiting for transplants, Atchison said.
The theme for this year's drive is "Gators Go Gold." Gold is the color for childhood cancer awareness.
At the drive, a raffle will be held for gift cards and other prizes, she said. Proceeds will go to childhood cancer research.Last year, about 500 people were swabbed at the drive. She said this year's goal is to hit 1,000.
Atchison said people should not be discouraged from registering if they're afraid of the actual transplant procedure.It's usually an outpatient procedure, she said.
"When you donate bone marrow, you're saving a person's life directly," Atchison said. "More than likely, you're that person's only chance of living."
To learn more about joining the bone marrow registry, please visit http://www.giftoflife.org.
