Tokyo Friendfinder
Here at DWT we don’t ask for much, but just this once we’d appreciate a few minutes of your time that might make a heck of a difference to the lives of a lot of people in general and our pal and DWT contributor Emru Townsend in particular.
Anime fan, FPS Magazine founder and all-round good egg Emru was recently diagnosed with leukemia, along with a complicating condition called monosomy 7. The upshot is he needs a bone marrow stem cell transplant and that’s where you come in.
I’ll let Emru explain it himself – it’s long, but please read to the end and get involved for the sake of both our friend and thousands like him across the world:
“We’ve all heard of blood banks and organ banks, but it turns out there are also bone marrow banks. Actually, not really banks, but registries of individuals’ HLA (human leukocyte antigen) information, which are used to determine bone marrow compatibility. In the same way that people volunteer to donate blood, people can volunteer to join a bone marrow registry. Depending on where you are, all that’s required is a cheek swab or a blood sample.
What I’m asking of every reader is twofold: (1) join your local bone marrow registry, and (2) tell everyone you know to do the same. This will not only help me, but the thousands of people who need transplants to save their lives. The marrow registries around the world are linked, so it doesn’t matter where you are.
I’ve started a website called Heal Emru that contains much more information, and I urge you to visit it, read it, and pass the information along. Registering is easy, quick, and potentially life-saving for someone you know, or a total stranger. I thank you, my family thanks you, and everyone else waiting for a donor, along with their families, thank you for any help you can give.”
Remember, it doesn’t matter where you live – you too can make a difference, so please head over to Emru’s site now and find out more. Thanks for listening…
03:39 PM 
J Mark Lytle •
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leukemia
stem cells
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There are very similar calls to action in my city.
Children or their parents seek bone marrow donations.
Each time a local newspaper is asking people to donate their samples.
24k people donate samples but only one or two are selected for donation of transplants.It seems like an absurdity to me that no database for the donors was created before.
Posted by Cute Sista on 08/04/30 at 04:49 AM -
I’ve been fortunate enough to be a match for two people who needed bone marrow. I hope I can do it again sometime.
The technology has come a long since my last donation --they can extract it without surgery (it’s more like dialysis.) And even the old method is not that uncomfortable; I think they mention it as a CYA measure.
The hospital staff treat you like royalty, and the feeling you get from donating is absolutely the best.
I would recommend that everyone get on a list, and if you are called—DO IT!!
Posted by JN on 08/06/29 at 02:40 PM