New York, NY – According to stjudes.org, "approximately 500 children are diagnosed with acute myeloid leukemia in the United States each year and is the most common second malignancy in children treated for malignancies". Minority children are at a higher disadvantage due to the limited percentages available ethnic bone marrow or cord blood registered volunteers donors. However, you may have the opportunity to help 15-year old Dimitrius Wilson.
Dimitrius Wilson is a freshman in high school that is athletic and also has a “niche” for technology. At 15-years old, he created an animation cartoon through a Hofstra University Youth Program. He enjoys video games, listening to rock music and skateboarding. His grandfather, Billy Wilson, the first African-American to receive the Thorpe Award in 1943, provides his inherited athletic nature. Dimitrius is on his way to becoming a three-letter in basketball, baseball and track. In March 2010, Dimitrius was diagnosed with AML and after chemo treatments, the disease, went into remission. However, 15-months later he relapsed in February 2012. According to stjude.org, Acute Myeloid Leukemia (AML) affects various white blood cells including granulocytes, monocytes and platelets. Leukemia cells accumulate in the bone marrow, replace normal blood cells and can spread to the liver, spleen, skin or central nervous system. In order to survive, Dimitrius will need a bone marrow or cord blood donor and we need YOUR HELP, by registering to help Dimitrius and other patients!
Preserve Our Legacy, Inc. a 501(c) (3) not-for-profit, whose mission is to educate individuals, especially those from various ethnic groups, about the benefits of stem cells through treatment options provided via PBSC, bone marrow and umbilical cord blood donation. The organization also spearheaded Jaden’s Law and launched a historic educational program called P.O.L. Umbilical Cord Blood Program at Harlem Hospital in December 2010. Since Jaden’s death, Preserve Our Legacy has been advocating to increase awareness about the need of various ethnic donors, in addition to, having those that register to step up when called to help a patient. “Jaden is gone, but we can do something to help Dimitrius, we need the communities help in spreading the word to find him a match“, says Brett Melius, Co-Founder of Preserve Our Legacy, Inc. We will assist in the promotion of bone marrow drives t help find Dimitrius and others find a match. Follow Dimitrius on twitter at @savedimitrius
Upcoming Bone Marrow Drive:
Trention Health Festival
Location: Historic Cadwalader Park, Trenton, NJ
Saturday, May 19, 2012
Time: 10:00 AM – 3:00 PM
Contact: Preserve Our Legacy 877-778-3623
Shana Melius, ext 702 or shana.melius@preserveourlegacy.org, Brett Melius, ext 703 or brett.melius@preserveourlegacy.org
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Friday, May 18, 2012
Saturday, May 12, 2012
Preserve Our Legacy Board member and Co-founder in New York Times
"Finding a Match, and a Mission: Helping Blacks Survive Cancer" is an article in the New York Times featuring POL board member Seun Adebiyi and his story of being diagnosed with blood cancers, searching for and finding a match, starting a registry in Nigeria, and working on a Nigerian cord blood bank. The article also includes a quote from Shana Melius, co-founder of Preserve Our Legacy, Inc. Read the article here...
Thursday, May 10, 2012
Understanding Cord Blood
Preserve Our Legacy, Inc has an umbilical cord blood program at Harlem Hospital that educates expecting mothers on the benefits of cord blood donation as well as coordinates those donations. Many have heard of cord blood but are unclear that it can be donated for free or what it can be used for. This video from a May 2nd news report in Greensboro, NC explains more about how donating cord blood works.
Friday, May 4, 2012
Help Save Dimitrius
Fifteen year old Dimitrius Wilson is an energetic 9th grader from Long Island New York. This extremely gifted young man is a basketball, baseball, and track athlete as well as an outstanding student excelling in technology and science.
After experiencing persistent strep throat and pain in his knees a blood test result in March 2010 lead to a diagnosis of Acute Myeloid Leukemia. Young Dimitrius was suddenly thrust onto a difficult journey taking him away from an active life and from many of his family and friends.
Fortunately with initial rounds of chemotherapy he was able to achieve remission. However it was recently discovered that the Leukemia returned and doctors feel his best chance for survival is a bone marrow/stem cell transplant. Unfortunately Dimitrius does not have a matching donor in his family nor does he have a suitable match on the ‘Be The Match’ registry.
His parents who have a strong faith in God are asking others to join the registry in hopes they will be a match for Dimitrius or someone else in need. They want Dimitrius to reach his full potential in life. He already shows so much promise having produced two anime videos at a program at Hofstra University at such a young age. Perhaps he may follow in his grandfathers (Billy Wilson) footsteps who was the first African American to receive the coveted Thorpe Award, an honor he shares with the likes of the football great Jim Brown and became a semi-pro star in three sports.
After experiencing persistent strep throat and pain in his knees a blood test result in March 2010 lead to a diagnosis of Acute Myeloid Leukemia. Young Dimitrius was suddenly thrust onto a difficult journey taking him away from an active life and from many of his family and friends.
Fortunately with initial rounds of chemotherapy he was able to achieve remission. However it was recently discovered that the Leukemia returned and doctors feel his best chance for survival is a bone marrow/stem cell transplant. Unfortunately Dimitrius does not have a matching donor in his family nor does he have a suitable match on the ‘Be The Match’ registry.
His parents who have a strong faith in God are asking others to join the registry in hopes they will be a match for Dimitrius or someone else in need. They want Dimitrius to reach his full potential in life. He already shows so much promise having produced two anime videos at a program at Hofstra University at such a young age. Perhaps he may follow in his grandfathers (Billy Wilson) footsteps who was the first African American to receive the coveted Thorpe Award, an honor he shares with the likes of the football great Jim Brown and became a semi-pro star in three sports.
Thursday, May 3, 2012
A Special Day in New York State
"Today is Cord Blood & Bone Marrow Awareness Day for New York State. Please register in honor of Jaden Hilton & Preserve Our Legacy, Inc." - a message from Preserve Our Legacy, Inc co-founder Shana Melius.
Tuesday, May 1, 2012
BONE MARROW AND UMBILICAL CORD BLOOD DONOR REGISTRATION DAY IN NEW YORK STATE
A year ago on May 3rd Preserve Our Legacy, INC along with
hundreds of donors, patients, and supporters met in New York states
capital Albany to raise awareness about the lack of sufficient bone marrow and
umbilical cord blood donors within ethnic communities in New York State. They
met with their local legislators in support of Assemblyman Wright's bill A.4294 or Jaden's Law, which would add bone marrow and umbilical cord blood to the
New York State Donor Registry and allow New Yorker's to indicate their choice
to donate on their drivers licenses akin to other organ donations. The Jaden’s
Law bill has yet to be voted on.
Tuesday, April 10, 2012
Likelihood of a Match
The Need
Every year, more than 10,000 patients in the U.S. are diagnosed with life-threatening diseases such as leukemia or lymphoma, and their best or only hope of a cure is a transplant from an-unrelated adult donor or umbilical cord blood unit.
Most patients (about 70 percent) in need of a transplant do not have a matching donor in their family. In 2011, nearly half of all patients in the U.S. received the unrelated transplant* they needed. *This is referring to receiving transplants, not finding matches.
Barriers to transplant include:
- lack of access to health care (no or limited insurance coverage)
- lack of timely referral for transplant,
- decline in health status and
- inability to find a matched donor or cord blood unit.
Likelihood of a Match
More than 650,000 new potential donors joined in 2011 (down from nearly 723,000 in 2010); of those, nearly 40 percent were from diverse racial and ethnic communities.
A patient’s likelihood of having a donor on the Be The Match Registry who is willing and able to help save a life is estimated to range from 66 percent to 93 percent, depending on race or ethnicity (unchanged from 2010).
- African American or Black patients only have an estimated 66 percent likelihood of having a donor on the Be The Match Registry who is willing and able to help save a life.
- Asian or Pacific Islander patients only have an estimated 73 percent likelihood of having a donor on the Be The Match Registry who is willing and able to help save a life.
- Hispanic or Latino patients only have an estimated 72 percent likelihood of having a donor on the Be The Match Registry who is willing and able to help save a life.
- White patients have an estimated 93 percent likelihood of having a donor on the Be The Match Registry who is willing and able to help save a life.
- American Indian and Alaska Native patients have an estimated 82 percent likelihood of having a donor on the Be The Match Registry who is willing and able to help save a life.
*Cord blood plays a significant role in meeting the needs of transplant patients. Statistics on likelihood of a match including cord blood are in development and will be available at a future date. -NMDP
Composition of the Be The Match Registry by Race and Ethnicity
The Be The Match Registry provides access to 9.5 million potential donors and nearly 165,000 cord blood units. Through partnerships with international registries, the NMDP provides additional access to approximately 9 million donors and 425,000 cord blood units.
| Race/Ethnicity | Number and % Potential Adult Donors | Number and % Cord Blood Units |
| African American or Black | Nearly 685,000 7% | More than 12,000 7% |
| American Indian/Alaska Native | Nearly 106,000 1% | 265 0.2% |
| Asian | Nearly 670,000 7% | Nearly 12,000 7% |
| White | More than 6.8 million 71% | More than 100,000 61% |
| Multiple Race | More than 340,000 4% | Nearly 15,000 9% |
| Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander | Nearly 15,000 0.2% | 150 0.1% |
| Hispanic or Latino | More than 940,000 10% | More than 29,000 18% |
Donating Marrow, Peripheral Blood Stem Cells (PBSC) or Umbilical Cord Blood
A marrow or cord blood transplant replaces a patient’s unhealthy blood-forming cells with healthy ones. The cells used in transplants come from three sources: marrow, peripheral blood stem cells (PBSC) and umbilical cord blood.
The above information is from the the Be The Match Registry®, operated by the National Marrow Donor Program® (NMDP). The information has been edited for presentation on this blog.
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