Last month, I wrote about 5-year-old Connor Lim, who is suffering from a devastating immuno-deficiency and is desperate need of a bone marrow transplant. Here's a recent Chicago Sun-Times story on Connor's struggle with his condition and his family's ongoing efforts to find a bone marrow match: In fight of his life, 5-year-old boy needs real superhero.
But because Connor is of Korean descent, the pool of donors who would likely be a match for him is smaller. The odds of finding a match largely depend on a person's tissue type. Since tissue types are inherited, people from the same racial or ethnic group are more likely to be compatible.Look at that kid. Don't you want to help him? Connor's hope for survival greatly depends on finding a match for a bone marrow transplant. His family is asking you to join a bone marrow registry. You can go to marrow.org to register online (promo code teamconnor). Even if you're not a match for Connor, you could save another person's life. For more information about Connor and his family, go here.
Asians have roughly a 78 percent chance of finding at least one potential match on the national Be The Match Registry of donors, compared with 88 percent of whites, 82 percent of Native Americans and 81 percent of Hispanics, according to data from the National Marrow Donor Program. African Americans have a 60 percent chance of finding a match.
The National Marrow Donor Program is trying to get people to understand the need for more minority donors and what it entails, spokeswoman Catherine Claeys says.
"There's just a lot of misinformation out there about what marrow donation entails," says Claeys. "Once people are educated and aware of the opportunities to save a life, they're willing to take that first step."
Marrow donation is an outpatient procedure. Liquid bone marrow is removed from the pelvic bone with a syringe. Donors can feel soreness in the lower back after the procedure. Full recovery usually takes up to three weeks.