The St. Francis Medical Center Hawaii Bone Marrow Donor Registry is joining a nationwide effort to find a bone marrow donor for a 5-year-old Seattle girl who has cancer. Bone marrow search
lands in isles
Star-Bulletin staff
The girl, Nicole Howard, is of Japanese and Caucasian ancestry, and chances are better for finding donors in Hawaii's multiracial population, a donor registry worker said.
A drive will be held from 7:30 to 11 a.m. tomorrow at Kapiolani Park as part of the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation Race for the Cure.
The University of Hawaii School of Nursing will sponsor a drive from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Thursday at the Campus Center Ballroom on the Manoa campus. Another one will be held from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Oct. 6 at the state Capitol during Children and Youth Day.
Volunteers must be between 18 and 60 years of age and in general good health. A small blood sample is collected for tissue typing, and the donor is placed on Hawaii and national registries at no cost to the donor.
For more information, call 547-6154.
Registered marrow donors are matched with patients who need bone marrow transplants because of terminal disease. The only known cure for Nicole is a bone marrow transplant, the donor registry said.
More than 16,000 people nationwide are diagnosed with some type of fatal blood disease annually.
Asian and Pacific Islander donors particularly are sought by the St. Francis Donor Registry.
St. Francis Medical Center
Hawaii Bone Marrow Donor Registry
