Thanks to singer Rihanna.
In a previous blog I detailed the desperate tale of a leukemia-stricken New York City mother of two who needed to find a bone marrow donor in order to survive.
Once Grammy-winning singer Rihanna learned of the woman’s situation she put her career on hold to campaign to find a donor for Lisa Gershowitz-Flynn.
Yesterday the singer’s (along with hundreds of others’) hard work paid off when it was announced that a 32-year-old complete stranger consented to be Flynn’s donor.
The anonymous donor is being hailed as a “guardian angel.” Meanwhile, Rihanna’s efforts are also being touted by DKMS, the world’s leading bone marrow donor center. Executives at the center say after Rihanna lent her name to the campaign more than 7,000 individuals contacted DKMS to become potential donors. In addition, DKMS execs say since Flynn’s story went national the company has recruited and registered roughly 2,000 new donors, just from phone calls and emails alone.
As for Flynn she is currently awaiting the bone marrow transplant surgery that will help save her life.
“My children (Michael, 5, and Alexandra, 3) will have their mother, my husband will have his wife, and my parents will have their daughter,” Flynn wrote in a statement released yesterday.
While the New Yorker is beyond thrilled that she has found a match she (along with Rihanna) says she will continue to spread the word about “how important it is to fill the bone marrow registry with donors to save others.”
As I mentioned in my previous blog medical experts say getting tested is easy. All it requires is sitting still for a cheek swab test, which is then sent to a national bone-marrow registry. If your marrow is a match, you would have to undergo a minor outpatient surgery in which doctors extract healthy stem cells to replace the patient’s unhealthy cells.
For more information on how to help click here.
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