Looking for possible bone-marrow donors

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To the Editor:

My name is Maria Santos. I am a representative of Fundacao Icla da Silva here in Massachusetts. On Saturday, Sept. 3, we will be conducting a campaign for registration of possible bone-marrow donors, which will be held from 10:30 am to 6 pm in the Assembly of God Church located at 258 Edgartown Road No. 1, Edgartown, MA. Young Jefferson Silva, Brazilian, 18 years old, and resident in Lowell, was diagnosed in July 2016 with leukemia, and needs a bone-marrow transplant.

To be a donor one must be between 18 and 44 years, and the test consists of a smear inside the mouth with cotton swabs. This procedure will be performed at the site of the campaign. The test will be sent to the laboratory, and if the person is compatible, he or she will be asked to do a blood test. If that too is proven compatible with Jefferson or any other patient, he or she will be asked to donate. The chance of finding a compatible donor is 100,000 to 1.

Every four minutes someone has a diagnosis of leukemia. The disease is unfortunately not  particular about race or age; it can happen to anyone, because it is not hereditary. I would like to ask everyone to devote about 10 minutes of your time to help us save lives. You can be the hope for Jefferson or many other patients waiting. Say yes to life, be an angel donor, because every day someone wakes up praying for you, waiting for you to register and save the life of their loved one. For more information, please call Maria Santos at 617-519-3850.

Maria Tschaen Santos

Fundacao Icla da Silva