24,000 Israelis demonstrated their concern for the many
Jewish patients in need of life-saving bone marrow
transplants by participating in Ezer Mizion's annual bone
marrow drive on Tuesday April 1.
The drive brings the number of potential donors in the Ezer
Mizion registry to over 150,000. The Ezer Mizion Bone Marrow
Registry is the largest international Jewish registry in
existence. To date, it has facilitated 55 life-saving
transplants all over the world.
"No person has immunity to cancer, so the registry is an
insurance policy for Jews everywhere," says Dr. Bracha
Zisser, who initiated the registry 5 years ago. "Our goal is
to expand the registry to 500,000 people. That will enable us
to find matches for the vast majority of Jews in need of bone
marrow transplants."
Transplant recipients must be nearly identical matches with
their donors for tissue-type markers known as HLA proteins.
Chances for a match increase significantly if the patient and
potential donor share the same ethnic background.
Galia, 33, is one of the registry's success stories. 3 years
ago, on the day of one of Ezer Mizion's bone marrow drives,
she was shopping at Tel Aviv's Dizengoff shopping center.
When she passed by the bone marrow station, she filled out a
form and gave a small blood sample. "The whole process of
joining the registry took 5 minutes," she says.
Two years later, Galia got a message on her answering machine
informing her that she might be a match for someone in need
of a bone marrow transplant. "I was very excited. I had never
won anything, not a lottery, not even a weekend at a hotel.
But this time I really felt lucky," she says.
Galia took another blood test and was confirmed to be a
compatible donor. "The donation process was very short and
simple," she says. "I left work in the afternoon, went to the
hospital, and basically gave blood. A small tube connected my
arm to a machine that separated stem cells from my blood, and
the rest of the blood was returned to my other arm. Two
little needle pricks, I watched TV for a few hours, and that
was it."
"I don't know who the recipient is, but I know that he is a
father and still among the living. I want people to know that
donating bone marrow didn't hurt me at all, but it was the
difference between life and death for somebody."
Those interested in joining the registry, organizing bone
marrow drives, or sponsoring the cost of tissue-typing can
obtain more information by contacting Ezer Mizion at (02)537-
8070 or at international@ezer-mizion.org.il.
