Big Bend's bone marrow drive continues online
Grandma Jeana Moore, of Deer Park, and Jada Bascom are hoping to spend a lot of time together in the next year, while Jeana takes a break from walking to share Jada's story about her bone marrow transplant.
MOSES LAKE - Did you get a chance to register as a Bone Marrow Donor this week at Big Bend Community College?
No worries, you can do it today, online, and join the 105 new donors who signed up Monday.
The event was a success, with the help of nursing student volunteers, according to organizer Steve Ausere, who said to plan on the event next year.
With each donation comes a story about who the gift helped.
Donor recipient Jada Bascom, of Deer Park, was born in 2007, and within hours the nurse knew something was wrong. Jada was soon diagnosed with Leukemia. By age 5 months Jada had gone through four chemotherapy treatments. The doctors told her parents, Issa and Kyle Bascom, that the best hope was a bone marrow transplant.
After testing the family and finding no matches the Bascoms looked to "Be The Match," the bone marrow registry in the United States.
Out of the 7 million registered in the US, not one match was found. The family then looked at the European registry of 4 million. Out of 11 million registered, only one matched.
"One person...saved a life by giving a piece of himself to a stranger," Jeana Moore, of Deer Park said, who told her granddaughter's story.
Not only did she tell Jada's story to the Columbia Basin Herald, Moore walked across the United States from Los Angeles, Calif. to New York City in 2011 and from Kio in northern Germany to Venice, Italy in 2012, telling the story.
Moore said she took no money. She only asked that those who heard Jada's story to register as a bone marrow donor.
She said she relied on the generosity of the people of the US for shelter and food. She said people from all denominations of churches, all political parties, the rich and poor helped her.
"People stepped forward from all walks of life because cancer crosses all boundaries," she said.
In 5,504 miles through the US and Europe, 11,000 people were inspired to register. Moore said out of those 11,000, 22 people contacted her to say they were a match, and donated.
Moore said she hopes readers "Really take this story personal. Often, we're moved by a story but don't take action. It took my own granddaughter. They (you) might be the only match like Torsten was for Jada."
Moore is taking a break from walking during 2014 to be with her family. She plans to be walking again in 2015 or 2016 in South Africa or Australia.
You can join the bone marrow registry by visiting Moore's website dedicated to Jada at www.stepstomarrow.com. Click on "Make a Difference," to begin the process.
Moore said their focus last summer was on Native Americans, as bone marrow matches are more likely between people with shared ancestry and their numbers in the registry are low.
To reach Steve Ausere, who helped organize the event at Big Bend, email him at ausere@gmail.com.