Bone Marrow Donor Drive Honors Laramie Girl
A bone marrow registry event will be held in Laramie to honor a girl who was recently diagnosed with a disease that many know little about. The Bone Marrow Donor Drive will be held on Monday, August 31, 2015 from 11 a.m. until 2 p.m. It takes place at the University of Wyoming in the Wyoming Union Breezeway.
Megan Colter is a 14-year-old ninth grader at Laramie Junior High School who was recently diagnosed with aplastic anemia. The disease is a deficiency in all types of blood cells, and it is caused by the failure of bone marrow development.
“We are extremely lucky. Megan is stable and is only exhibiting moderate symptoms of this disorder,” says Megan’s mother, Jeni Colter. “But the nature of the disorder—one of the cures is a bone marrow transplant.”
Fortunately for Megan, she is not currently in need of a transplant. After her diagnosis, she and her family began to learn about the bone marrow donation process. Although Megan did not have a donor match within her family, several good matches are on the registry in the event that she does need a transplant.
“We were really thrilled and excited that [a donor match] was available to her. At the same time, we know there are several people—hundreds and thousands of people—who don’t have matches,” says Jeni Colter.
Knowing that others do not have donor matches, Megan and her family wanted to get help with bringing awareness to the bone marrow registry and how people can get involved.
The registration process requires less than five minutes of time, and consists of a medical questionnaire to determine eligibility and a cheek swab. Once someone is put on the registry, they join the list of potential donors. If in the future they are a match to someone requiring a donation, they will be contacted.
To learn more about the registry process and its importance, visit www.sharingamericasmarrow.com.