News
View the latest transplant news and stories.
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Large Majority of Patients Who Need Unrelated Bone Marrow Transplants Can Find a Matching Donor on the National Be The Match Registry
July 2014NMDP/Be The Match Press Release - An overwhelming percentage of patients who need an unrelated bone marrow transplant will have a suitably matched, available donor on the Be The Match Registry ® , operated by the National Marrow Donor Program® (NMDP)/Be The Match® , according to a new study published yesterday in the New England Journal of Medicine. -
Falcons Linebacker Laces Up for Be The Match
April 2014Be The Match Feature Story - Paul Worrilow made a name for himself this year with the Atlanta Falcons. The 230-pound linebacker led the team with 127 tackles, and was recognized for his grit and determination on the field. Off the field, he's using that same grit and determination to help a 23-year-old female battling leukemia. Read about Paul’s life-changing marrow donation story and learn how you can join him in lacing up for Be The Match Walk+Run -
Ever Wonder What Happens to a Cheek Swab After Someone Joins Be The Match Registry?
April 2014Be The Match Feature Story - The cotton swab is just the beginning. Learn what happens to an individual's cheek swab sample to add a person to the Be The Match marrow donor registry. -
Love Conquers All - Bone Marrow Transplant Nurse Shares Her Own Transplant Journey
February 2014Be The Match Feature Story - Becky has had a rough journey over the past two decades, beginning with the news that she had chronic myeloid leukemia at the age of 18. The road to recovery was long and heartbreaking with more than six relapses before receiving a bone marrow transplant from a Be The Match donor.While her road to transplant was rough, along the way Becky found her true love, Clint and her love for helping people as a bone marrow transplant nurse. -
“With true gratitude and love in my heart, I knew that I needed to give back in some way.”
February 2014Be The Match Feature Story - In 2010, just four days before exchanging Valentine’s Day hugs and kisses, life changed for Traci and her family. Doctors discovered a rare brain tumor, known as a craniopharyngioma, growing on her daughter Camden’s pituitary gland.
After watching her daughter beat this life-threatening disease, Traci desired to help other families dealing with serious illnesses. “With true gratitude and love in my heart, I knew that I needed to give back in some way,” she said. “I wanted to give the gift I received to someone else.” Traci decided to join the Be The Match Registry®, hoping she could help save someone’s life — which she did, just two years later.
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Robin Roberts Collaborates with Be The Match and Stand Up To Cancer
February 2014NMDP/Be The Match Press Release - Two-time cancer survivor and Be The Match Ambassador of Hope, Robin Roberts is starting 2014 by raising awareness with a public service announcement (PSA) campaign collaboration between Be The Match and Stand Up To Cancer®, a program of the Entertainment Industry Foundation.
Robin, anchor of Good Morning America, debuted these new PSAs on Martin Luther King Jr. Day. The PSAs, titled “I Beat Cancer. Twice” and “Focus on the Fight. Not The Fright,” emphasize two critical ways to help save the lives of patients battling blood cancers like leukemia and lymphoma: supporting cutting-edge research and increasing the number of volunteer bone marrow donors on the national Be The Match Registry.
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22-Year-Old Aruni Donated PBSC in Honor of a Member of Her Community
December 2013Be The Match Feature Story - Many people join Be The Match Registry® in hopes of becoming a match for a family member, friend, or someone in their community. When a member of her community was diagnosed with leukemia in 2009, Aruni did just that. She joined the Be The Match Registry at a registration drive held on his behalf. In the end, Aruni was not a match and the patient that motivated her to join passed away. Through it all, Aruni stuck with her commitment to Be The Match and remained on the registry, hoping she could help someone else.
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Life: The Most Precious Gift
November 2013Be The Match Feature Story - Janet and Ron give thanks for Ava’s life every day. When Ava was just six months old, they took her to the doctor with what they believed was “just a cold” and learned she had a life threatening blood disease. -
A Home for the Holidays
November 2013Be The Match Feature Story - Z was almost two and living in a residential facility for seriously ill children when he was matched with a donor through the Be The Match Registry®. During his transplant and recovery, he met the woman who would later become his mom. She says they won “the lottery of life.” -
Sealed With A Promise (S.W.A.P.) Bracelet Now Available
November 2013Be The Match Feature Story - New York Times best-selling author Lisi Harrison has partnered with online jewelry and accessories retailer gorjana & griffin to create the exclusive Sealed With A Promise (S.W.A.P.) bracelet. As a passionate supporter of Be The Match, Lisi has asked that 100% of the proceeds for the gorjana & griffin S.W.A.P. bracelet be donated to Be The Match in memory of her children’s beloved nanny, Jocy, who passed away during her search for a marrow match. -
Abby’s “Destiny to Donate Marrow”
October 2013Be The Match Feature Story - When Abby first found out that she was a perfect match for a young boy in California, she could not have been more excited! “I was surprised, excited and shocked to have been chosen so quickly, since I had just joined the registry four months earlier!” said Abby. Although her loved ones were a bit hesitant to the idea of her donating marrow, Abby felt that it was her destiny.
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Cord Blood Transplant Renews Teen's Health and Perspective on Life
July 2013Be The Match Feature Story - July is Cord Blood Awareness Month and Elizabeth is celebrating the gift of cord blood that saved her life. Today, as she gets ready for college, she looks back on her tough journey with acute lymphocytic leukemia (ALL). -
Donating Not Once, But Twice to Give a Young Boy Life
July 2013Be The Match Feature Story - When she first joined the Be The Match Registry®, Bhairavi was hopeful that she would match her dear friend with leukemia. When the test results came back stating that she was not a match, Bhairavi became discouraged. But little did she know, years down the road, she would be given the opportunity to donate not once, but twice to save another boy's life. -
Cancer Survivor Hits the Road with Milwaukee Brewers
July 2013Be The Match Feature Story - Twenty-five-year-old Ben, a two-time cancer survivor, quit his job to go on the road with the Milwaukee Brewers to raise awareness about Be The Match.
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Two-Time Donor Describes Donation as “The Best Feeling”
June 2013Be The Match Feature Story - Johnathan is living proof of the statement, “be the change you want to see in the world,” donating peripheral blood stem cells, or PBSC (one of two methods of donation) twice to save the life of a patient named Melissa.
“After my first donation people asked me if I would ever do it again and I replied, ‘in a heartbeat,’” said Johnathan. “So here I am four years later going back in.”
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Skin GVHD: How to Spot and Tips to Manage
May 2013Be The Match Feature Story - Graft-versus-host disease (or GVHD) of the skin is a reality for many transplant recipients. As a common side effect of transplant, it can affect many parts of the body. Dr. Stephanie Lee and Everett, a transplant recipient, offer insights and advice to help.
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Craving Connections After Transplant: Young Adults Reach Out to Peers for Hope and Healing
May 2013Be The Match Feature Story - Young adult transplant recipients Matt and Kayla describe the ups and downs of their transplant journeys and how connecting with others helped them to heal.
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“A Cord Blood Donation Saved My Life After Relapse” - Krista's Story
May 2013Be The Match Feature Story - For Krista, a relapse of her acute myeloid leukemia meant that she would need a marrow transplant to live. The only match found was with donated cord blood that had been frozen for 10 years, waiting for a patient like Krista.
“Without the life-saving decision of that Australian mommy to donate her baby's cord blood to the public registry,” said Krista, “I wouldn't be here today to raise my own two boys!”
In honor of her fourth transplant birthday, Krista hosted a Be The Match marrow registry drive to help recruit new potential marrow donors.
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What Hurricane? Firefighter, Craig Donates during Rita
May 2013Be The Match Feature Story - Craig, a firefighter from Pasadena, Texas, was used to putting himself in danger to help others. “After 28 years of saving people from all types of terrible things, I thought donating marrow was nothing more than an extension of who I am and what I do,” said Craig. What he was not prepared for was answering the call to donate in the midst of Hurricane Rita
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'Team Tanner' Family, Friends and Hockey Community Celebrate Tanner’s Life
April 2013Be The Match Feature Story - Tanner and his family were life-long LA Kings fans. In February 2011, their family, with the help of Be The Match held a donor registration drive at an LA Kings game, registering 300 new potential donors and raising more than 5,000 dollars.
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Thrilled by the Miracle that I Was Chosen as a Match!
April 2013Be The Match Feature Story - The call to donate can happen at any time—three months, five years or even longer (if ever at all) after someone has joined the Be The Match Registry®. Susan, a long-time blood donor and Be The Match Registry member, was listed on the registry for 17 years before she got the call to donate. Her story is like the story of many—and a testament to why all registry members should stand ready, willing and able to donate during their time on the registry.
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Three-Year-Old Ben Fought for His Life and Won
March 2013Be The Match Feature Story - Today, Ben is a happy and outgoing five-year-old boy who enjoys his friends and new school routine. But Ben’s happiness was not without its struggles. In January 2011, Ben visited the doctor due to severe bruising—the first indication of his illness, congenital amegakaryocytic thrombocytopenia (CAMT), a rare inherited bone marrow failure disease in young children. After receiving a second opinion, Ben’s parents decided that a marrow transplant was their son’s best chance at survival.
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Know Your Risk Factors for Developing Heart Problems After Transplant
February 2013Be The Match Feature Story - Certain types of treatment before your transplant or complications that happen after transplant can sometimes increase a patient's risk of heart problems. Dr. Saro Armenian explains some of the signs and symptoms to look for, questions to ask a doctor, and what patients can do now to improve heart health.
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World-Champion Boxer Robert Guerrero Teams Up With Be The Match
February 2013NMDP/Be The Match Press Release - Bone marrow donated from a total stranger saved Robert Guerrero’s wife. Now the grateful world champion boxer is joining Be The Match® in the fight to make life-saving marrow transplants available for every blood cancer patient who needs one.
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“I Walk for People Who Have Nothing Left Except Hope.”
February 2013Be The Match Feature Story - Gary, a 61-year-old physical education teacher walks to provide hope—hope for those in need of a marrow transplant. After his colleague Aggie was diagnosed with a blood cancer as a result of her treatments for breast cancer, Gary got tested to see if he was a marrow match. Gary ultimately found out that he was not a match for Aggie and decided to help by getting involved with Be The Match. Since 2011, Gary has walked in every Be The One Run®, now Be The Match Walk+Run event—remotely from his home in Montana and now in memory of Aggie.
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Robin Roberts Returns to Good Morning America After Transplant
February 2013Be The Match Feature Story - On Wednesday, February 20, news anchor Robin Roberts made her return to Good Morning America —five months to the day after her marrow transplant to treat myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS).
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“They Were All So Proud, But to Me, It Was a ‘No Brainer.’”
January 2013Be The Match Feature Story- Twenty-two-year-old Matt is a recent college graduate. During his time at Rhode Island University, Matt was a starting offensive lineman. Motivated by a request from his coach and a passion for the cause, Matt joined the Be The Match Registry and volunteered at the football team’s annual bone marrow registry drive.
Just two years after joining the registry, in the spring of 2011, Matt received the news that he was someone’s marrow match and he had the potential to save a life.
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“Thanks to you, my recipient and I can be ‘bone buddies’ forever”
December 2012Be The Match Feature Story - On Saturday, Nov. 10, transplant recipient Jenna met her donor Maxine for the first time at the annual Council Meeting for Be The Match®.
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Recipient and Donor Overcome Together
November 2012Be The Match Feature Story - Six-year-old Finn and his donor, Melissa were matched when they needed each other the most. Finn needed Melissa to survive Wiskott-Aldrich Syndrome, a fatal hereditary immune system disorder, and Finn helped Melissa honor her mother’s struggle with cancer.
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“You Made a Choice that Many People Don’t Make.” Parent’s Personal Thank You to Donor
October 2012Be The Match Feature Story - At four months old, Clara was diagnosed with acute myeloid leukemia, a type of cancer in which the bone marrow makes abnormal myeloblasts (a type of white blood cell), red blood cells, or platelets. Her chances at survival were slim, but thankfully John, a college football player, joined the Be The Match Registry when Clara was just 17 days old. John turned out to be the perfect match for Clara—matching 10 out of a possible 10 human leukocyte antigen (HLA) markers.
A year after Clara’s transplant, her parents received John’s contact information and wrote him a letter. These heartfelt words are a testament to the importance of every single registry member.
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Robin Roberts Asks America, “If You Had the Power to Save a Life, Would You?”
October 2012Be The Match Feature Story - Robin is urging the public to offer a cure to someone with blood cancer, by joining the Be The Match Registry®. Watch her public service announcement that aired on Good Morning America on September 27, 2012.
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Donor and Recipient Meet for First Time on ABC’s Good Morning America
September 2012Be The Match Feature Story - Last month, millions tuned in as Good Morning America featured a live donor-recipient meeting hosted by anchor, Robin Roberts.
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'This can't be happening to me...' Mother of Three Thrives After Marrow Transplant
August 2012Be The Match Feature Story - In 2010, Lisa received a bone marrow transplant that saved her life. Today, she is one of the biggest advocates for Be The Match—stirring excitement among her community for the cause.
Now Lisa is reaching out to friends, family and anyone who will listen with the goal of getting more young people on the registry—especially those of a diverse heritage.
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Mother of two will finally meet the young man who saved her life
August 2012NMDP/Be The Match Press Release - Erika Turner was a busy mom of two teenage boys and working full-time at a local hospital, so when she started feeling tired and noticed a bit of bruising on her body, she wasn’t immediately suspicious. But a resident at the hospital pointed out that it looked like her platelets were low, and encouraged Erika to have it checked out. After numerous tests that week, Erika was diagnosed with acute lymphocytic leukemia (ALL) with Philadelphia positive chromosome in September 2010.
Doctors knew immediately that Erika would need a bone marrow transplant to survive. Now, two years after receiving a life-saving transplant, Erika will finally be able to thank Christopher, her donor, in person. The two will be introduced for the first time live on ABC’s Good Morning America on Wednesday, Aug. 22.
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Dwight and Ray—More in common than most brothers
July 2012Be The Match Feature Story - Dwight and Ray share a rare bond—they both had the opportunity to save a life through marrow donation.
Dwight, a medical technologist donated peripheral blood stem cells (PBSC) to a patient in 2000. Ray, an EMT and professional firefighter was used to saving lives, but in 2010 he too had the opportunity to save a life—donating bone marrow to his son, Morgan.
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Marrow Transplant Patients and Advocates Rally Congress to Support Be The Match
July 2012NMDP/Be The Match Press Release - People from across the country whose lives have been impacted by bone marrow donation – whether they have received a transplant or donated bone marrow to a stranger – will converge in Washington, D.C. on July 18. Their goal: to urge continued Congressional support of Be The Match®, the global leader in providing bone marrow and umbilical cord blood transplants to patients with life-threatening blood cancers.
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Wife of Supercross champion, Jeremy McGrath, waits for her transplant
June 2012Be The Match Feature Story - Seven-time Supercross champion, Jeremy McGrath and his wife, Kim are spreading the word about Be The Match. Kim was recently diagnosed with Leukemia and needs a marrow transplant to live.
The McGraths are stepping up and using their story to reach into the community. They are encouraging everyone to give what they can and donate much needed funds to help add more new members to the Be The Match Registry.
Kim recently sent a heartfelt letter of thanks to
Be The Match and everyone on the registry. -
Good Morning America Anchor, Robin Roberts announces MDS diagnosis
June 2012Be The Match Feature Story - When Robin Roberts, anchor on Good Morning America and a breast cancer survivor, announced her diagnosis with myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS), a heightened awareness was created about the need for more marrow donors.
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A Father Pays it Forward
April 2012Be The Match Feature Story - Four years ago a stranger saved Jiro Okochi’s one-year-old son, Finn. Finn was born with a fatal immune system disorder, one of 70 diseases treated with a marrow transplant.
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Transplant Patient and Doctor Take Coastal Bike Ride Together
July 2011Be The Match Feature Story - The Chair of Be The Match Foundation’s Atlanta Leadership Council, Dr. Amelia Langston, joined one of her transplant recipient patients, Bob, at the end of his fundraising bike trip down the East Coast. Bob is not only a transplant survivor, but also one of our Atlanta Be The One Run Planning Committee Members helping plan and organize that event to make it a success and raise funds to help other marrow and cord blood transplant patients.