Over 15,000 people are expected to turn out Monday, October 4 for Ezer Mizion's Israel-wide bone marrow drive in a bid to find a matching donor for 9-year-old Matthew, a Jewish child living in the USA. Matthew has leukemia, and a bone marrow transplant is his best hope for life.
Ezer Mizion holds such bone marrow drives regularly to find donors for Jewish people suffering from cancer and other diseases that destroy bone marrow. A bone marrow transplant can only succeed if the donor and recipient have nearly identical tissue types. Tissue type is an inherited trait, such that chances for a match increase significantly if the patient and donor share the same ethnic background.
With 170,000 registrants, the Ezer Mizion Bone Marrow Registry is the largest Jewish registry in the world. "760 Jews turned to Ezer Mizion in search of matching donors in 2003," says Dr. Bracha Zisser, who founded the Ezer Mizion six years ago. "To date, we have facilitated 108 transplants all over the world. But we haven't yet found a match for Matthew, nor for many other Jewish patients in need of transplants."
Matthew was diagnosed with leukemia at age 5, and has since undergone four years of devastating chemotherapy. "Matthew is one of those people who embraces life," says his mother, Marlene. "He exudes warmth and enthusiasm, and everyone always feels great around him. These qualities have enabled him to overcome the trials of treatment and enjoy an active life.
Marlene has a message for her fellow Jews: "I turn to all Jews of Ashkenazic descent to give a small blood sample and join the registry of Jewish potential donors. As important as this is for our own family, situations like ours pose a challenge to the Jewish world at large. Our efforts to find a match for Matthew will hopefully bring many new potential donors into the registry, donors who might save the lives of other sick patients."
The entire process of joining the Ezer Mizion registry is free of charge to the donor and consists of a simple blood test. Donors must be between the ages of 18 and 50 and in good health. Anyone tested in the past need not be tested again. The cost of processing each registrant is now up to $58, and Ezer Mizion is seeking financial contributions to help cover the huge cost of the drive. Click here for more information.
Ezer Mizion holds such bone marrow drives regularly to find donors for Jewish people suffering from cancer and other diseases that destroy bone marrow. A bone marrow transplant can only succeed if the donor and recipient have nearly identical tissue types. Tissue type is an inherited trait, such that chances for a match increase significantly if the patient and donor share the same ethnic background.
With 170,000 registrants, the Ezer Mizion Bone Marrow Registry is the largest Jewish registry in the world. "760 Jews turned to Ezer Mizion in search of matching donors in 2003," says Dr. Bracha Zisser, who founded the Ezer Mizion six years ago. "To date, we have facilitated 108 transplants all over the world. But we haven't yet found a match for Matthew, nor for many other Jewish patients in need of transplants."
Matthew was diagnosed with leukemia at age 5, and has since undergone four years of devastating chemotherapy. "Matthew is one of those people who embraces life," says his mother, Marlene. "He exudes warmth and enthusiasm, and everyone always feels great around him. These qualities have enabled him to overcome the trials of treatment and enjoy an active life.
Marlene has a message for her fellow Jews: "I turn to all Jews of Ashkenazic descent to give a small blood sample and join the registry of Jewish potential donors. As important as this is for our own family, situations like ours pose a challenge to the Jewish world at large. Our efforts to find a match for Matthew will hopefully bring many new potential donors into the registry, donors who might save the lives of other sick patients."
The entire process of joining the Ezer Mizion registry is free of charge to the donor and consists of a simple blood test. Donors must be between the ages of 18 and 50 and in good health. Anyone tested in the past need not be tested again. The cost of processing each registrant is now up to $58, and Ezer Mizion is seeking financial contributions to help cover the huge cost of the drive. Click here for more information.