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Bone marrow
donors turn out
in force at
fund-raiser

'I really feel special,'
Alvin Nishimura says as
256 donors offer bone marrow

Ways you can help

By Suzanne Tswei
Star-Bulletin

If one human being could help bear the misfortune of another, then 256 stepped forward yesterday to offer their bone marrow for police Capt. Alvin Nishimura, who is stricken with a fast-growing leukemia and in dire need of a bone marrow transplant.

"The turnout has been amazing," said Roy Yonashiro, donor recruitment coordinator for the Hawaii Bone Marrow Donor Registry. "This is unusually good. We had about 150 just in the first hour or so," he said yesterday during a bone marrow drive at the Neal Blaisdell Center, where a fund-raiser for Nishimura was being held.

By Kathryn Bender, Star-Bulletin
Police Capt. Alvin Nishimura greets one of hundreds
of people who paid $25 each yesterday to attend a
fund-raiser for him at the Neal Blaisdell Center.
He is battling a fast-growing leukemia.

A grateful Nishimura, who was thought too ill to attend, came to the fund-raiser and stayed almost through the entire event to mingle with friends, family and strangers who wanted to help him.

"I just want to be here. I am really grateful I have so many people who came to give their support. I wish I came here earlier," said Nishimura, who was tended by his wife, Cynthia Yip, a television producer.

Yesterday's fund-raiser was "a resounding success," bringing in about $25,000 through a silent auction and nearly $75,000 in ticket sales, said Nishimura's sister-in-law Jodi Yip. "There were a lot of walk-ins -- people who didn't know Alvin but just showed up to help. People were very generous with their spirit and their pocket books," she said.

Nishimura was diagnosed in October with acute lymphoblastic leukemia. He has undergone extensive chemotherapy and was awaiting a transplant. But last week, the family learned that two potential donors with the perfect tissue typing for Nishimura dropped out of the donor program.

When donors drop out of the program, they usually do so in the early stages, Yonashiro said. But Nishimura's potential donors pulled out at the last minute, after going through a series of tests, Nishimura's family said.

The two were whittled down from a list of eight donors offering potential matches. Both were determined to be perfect matches for Nishimura after all eight went through a series of blood tests, the family said.

"We don't know who they are, or why they dropped out," Yonashiro said, noting that donor information is confidential. The Hawaii registry was not involved in working with the two potential donors. They were referred by the National Marrow Donor Program, which has access to potential donors worldwide.

"We need to find him a donor. He really needs one, and so far the response has been really great," Yonashiro said.

"I really feel special," Nishimura said, referring to the hundreds who packed the exhibition hall after donating $25 each to attend. "Although I have leukemia, I think the Lord has really blessed me with such great friends, such great family."

Yonashiro said donors of Japanese ancestry offer the best potential, but he said the drive is not limited to a match for Nishimura as there are other patients who also need transplants.

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Ways you can help You can help Capt. Alvin Nishimura by assisting with his medical bills or becoming a registered marrow donor. Send monetary donations to Friends of Alvin Nishimura, P.O. Box 240491, Honolulu 96824-0491. To register as a donor, contact the Hawaii Bone Marrow Donor Registry, 547-6154. Or go to the following bone marrow drives: 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturday at Windward Mall; 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Sunday at Daiei Waipahu; and 94-144 Farrington Hwy. Star-Bulletin staff