Central Peninsula Hospital is calling on community members to step up and make a difference by participating in a life-saving bone marrow drive. In collaboration with the National Marrow Donor Program (NMDP), the hospital will host a registry drive on Sep 27, from 10 AM to 2 PM in the Mountain Tower Denali Room.
The event provides a unique opportunity for individuals aged 18 to 40 to join the NMDP Registry with a simple cheek swab. By registering, participants could be the match that 70% of patients in need of a bone marrow transplant rely on—those who cannot find a match within their own families.
“There’s just so many people that I have met along the way that need matches,” said Kelly Marre, an Oncology Social Worker with CPH who is leading the charge for the hospital’s drive.
Marre, who is a Leukemia survivor, tragically lost her 11-year-old son to the disease but fights on to promote bone marrow drives in his memory. “I can tell you that some of the people that I met from hosting these drives in memory of my son went on to become successful bone marrow donors to somebody else. So somebody else’s life was saved because they got on the registry because of my son’s story.”
Marre and many others at CPH hope this drive encourages people from the community to be the difference for patients awaiting a transplant, patients like Vanessa Shanahan.
Vanessa Shanahan, born at Central Peninsula Hospital in 1985 and a graduate of Skyview High School, has been an inspiring figure in the community. After moving to Colorado in 2004 to pursue her RN training and start a family of five, she returned to the Peninsula in 2018 to found Kenai Peninsula Home Health. However, Vanessa’s journey took an unexpected turn when she was diagnosed with Acute Myeloid Leukemia (AML) in April of this year.
Finding a stem cell donor has become the most critical part of Vanessa’s battle against AML.
“This drive offers our community a chance to come together and make an incredible impact,” said Marre. “Just one cheek swab could save someone’s life, and for Vanessa, it could be the key to finding the match she desperately needs. Her story highlights the importance of community support and the hospital’s ongoing efforts to bring life-saving programs to the Peninsula.”
Donors will be placed on a list to match them with potential transplant patients now or in the future, and being on that list could change the treatment trajectory of someone years down the road.
“People are on the list for 10 years and they might get called,” Marre explained. “There’s sisters and brothers and daughters all needing matches, and so we hope that we can find a match for every single person that needs one.”
Every 3-4 minutes, someone in the United States is diagnosed with a form of blood cancer, and everyone has the power to potentially save a life. Becoming part of the registry is quick and easy and could lead to the ultimate act of heroism: giving someone a second chance at life.