RICHMOND (NEWS 1130) — Friends of a local leukemia sufferer are desperately trying to find an eligible stem cell donor today, and it could be you.
The only chance of 30-year-old Martin Lintag surviving is by finding a match, something that’s difficult in Canada due to his Filipino descent. Friend Anthony Leung is organizing a stem cell drive at the St. Joseph the Worker Parish in Richmond today, and says the search has been going on since the end of June. He says a fellow Filipino donor would have the best chance of a match, but everyone’s welcome.
“At the time, he was diagnosed with a rate form of leukemia on his 30th birthday and he’s been looking for options and stem cell donors since then,” Leung says. “Anybody, whether it’s First Nations or Latin American, Asian, Caucasian, any race to increase the drive so that we can have more chance to finding a match.”
Martin’s brother brother would have been the best match, but he passed away when he was 18 years old.
Check if you are a match with just a simple cheek swab! In person at an event or Online at https://t.co/90H0seLycw .#BeTheMatch #BeTheCure pic.twitter.com/j0NEZD7Xhk
— Match4MartinNow (@Match4MartinNow) August 23, 2018
Canadian Blood Services say even if you’re not a match for Martin, you could end up matching someone else on the global database. The agency’s Sarah Jasmins says being tested is easy and non-committal, and takes the form of a cheek swab.
“[Potential donors] fill out a one-page health form, they swab their cheeks and that goes into our database,” Jasmins says. “Essentially, if their cheek swab ever matches the patient then Canadian Blood Services would call them, inform them they match the patient and ask them are they still willing to go through with the donation.”
The stem cell drive in Richmond goes until 6 p.m. St. Joseph the Worker Parish is located at 4451 Williams Road.
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