from plexpixel:
- As you may have heard, Emru Townsend, Editor of Frames Per Second Magazine is suffering from leukemia and is in desperate need of a bone marrow transplant. None of his relatives are a match, so he is relying on outside donors. We are asking you to help us encourage members of the animation community to join a bone marrow registry – you or someone you know may be the match Emru is hoping for!
- Because tissue types are inherited, patients are more likely to match someone from their own race or ethnicity. As an Afro-Caribbean, Emru Townsend will be most likely to match other donors of African or Caribbean decent. So please urge anyone in your circle with this racial background to participate.
Emru adds:
I’d just like to make one small correction: although there’s a better chance of a match from someone of the same ethnic background, it doesn’t mean I have no chance of matching anyone else. It’s better for me (and everyone else waiting for a transplant) if everyone registers. Registering is easy and, at worst, as painful as a blood test.
I wanted to spread the word here. Emru did a big article on me and Sita in 2005.
Thanks, Nina. Emru’s a good friend. I’d never heard about marrow donation before he got sick. Alas, I’m too old and decrepit to be a donor, but for you young’uns, it’s a great opportunity. Rack up that Karma! Better than helping old ladies across the street.
I registered and it’s easy! I did it through http://onematch.ca/registry in Canada. You begin your registration process online. Then they call you and talk on the phone and confirm your info. Next, you receive a kit in the mail. You take 4 swabs from the insides of your cheeks, put them in the envelope and mail it back.