The Yale Football, Women’s Ice Hockey, and Field Hockey teams will be hosting the annual Mandi Schwarz Marrow Donor Registration Drive today, Thursday, April 18th, from 10am-4pm at Commons.  Over the past few years, this event has added more than 3000 potential donors to the national Be the Match Registry and has found 17 life-saving matches along the way.
The process itself takes approximately 10 minutes- there is some brief paperwork, followed by a cheek swab.  Quick and easy.  Although the chances of being a match are relatively slim, the actual donation process is not difficult, painful, or cumbersome.  As junior football player John Oppenheimer (who donated as a perfect match this past January) puts it, “The process was very easy.  The foundation pays for transportation, hotel and food.  Everyone that helped me donate was very friendly and the experience enjoyable.  I would do it again in a heartbeat.”Â
This event is named after former Women’s Ice Hockey player Mandi Schwartz.  Mandi was a Yale student when she was first diagnosed with acute myeloid leukemia. After extensive chemotherapy, and even some time in remission, Mandi ultimately needed a bone marrow transplant if she was to have any hope of survival.  It was then that Mandi’s teammates paired up with the Football team to start a campus-wide search for a perfect match for Mandi.  Unfortunately, a match was never found and Mandi passed away in the spring of 2011.Â
Each person who joins the registry this Thursday, April 18th will have the chance to be someone’s hero.  There are plenty of mothers, fathers, grandparents, siblings, best friends, and other loved ones out there who desperately await a bone marrow donor each day.  In John Oppenheimer’s words, “!t is extremely important to register because the odds of being a perfect match are very slim.  In 5 years, we have added 3,000 to the registry and have had 17 perfect matches, which is way above normal odds.  It is also important because it honors Mandi’s life, fight, and legacy by saving many more lives.  There are very few opportunities as easy as this to make such an impact on somebody else’s life.”
Not only can joining the registry save the life of a stranger, but John has also found how the process has impacted his own life since donating: “Donating marrow stem cells has really given me a new perspective on my life and how fortunate I am for me and my family to be in good health. Â All I know about the man is that he is a 41 year old man with acute leukemia who lives in Europe and I was his perfect match. Â He probably has a family so I was not only able to save an individual life, but also save a wife from losing her husband and children from losing their father. Â If my dad was in the same position, I would want for someone to donate stem cells to him desperately, there are not even words to describe. Â That is why it was a no brainer for me.”
This year, Yale’s drive seeks to register 1000 new potential donors.  Come out to Commons between 10-4 to join in this great cause!
For more information about this event, please contact Lynn Kennedy at lynn.kennedy@yale.edu or visit http://www.yalebulldogs.com/sports/m-footbl/2012-13/releases/20130417pz3fek.
We hope to see you there!