Save a Life

My name is Clayton Hagy and I would be in 8th grade if not for a horrible and rare disease, biphenotypic acute leukemia (BAL), that hit randomly and changed my world view.  Now instead of worrying about tests and school and friends, I’m worrying about, blood tests and shots and hospital visits. 

One of the treatments for BAL is bone marrow transplant.  Since no one in my family is a match, I’m looking for a match from the general pool.  There are lots of other kids looking for matches too.

On Thursday April 30th my old elementary school, Farallone View in Montara, will sponsor a bone marrow drive to increase the number of people registered in the National Marrow Donor Program.  Registering is easy:  it’s a cheek swab and some paper work.  Later, if you turn out to be a match for someone, you may be asked to give a blood sample.  To find out more about donating marrow check the website http://www.marrow.org.

If you can’t make it on April 30th and would like to register online go to http://www.marrow.org, click on "join the registry" and then click "join now."  Enter the promo code:  coast4clayton.  This online drive will be open until 5/8/09.  You could save a life.