There is a one in 500 chance to be selected as a bone marrow donor. But despite those slim odds, the LHS bone marrow drive made a match in its first year.

Bobby Davis, an LHS alumnus, was one of the 80 people who signed up for the bone marrow drive on the way to Showtime last spring.

“I had always wanted to sign up for it [a bone marrow drive] but never really had the opportunity,” Davis said. “So when I came to Showtime and there was a booth to sign up, it was a no-brainer for me. If I could help a person see their children grow up, or at least prolong their life to get things in order, I would help any way I could.”

Retired Spanish teacher Patricia Wittry is the one who got in touch with the Be the Match foundation and helped organize the drive. In an interview with the Red & Black yearbook last year, she shared that she donated bone marrow to her sister, who required a marrow transplant because of Leukemia.
“I was miraculously a perfect match, which in 70 percent of families doesn’t happen,” Wittry said.

She thought it would be fitting to start a drive at LHS and raise awareness of bone marrow transplants.

“I think it’s really important because it’s so easy to save someone’s life,” Wittry said.

Anatomy teacher Jo Huntsinger said the diversity of people at LHS makes it a prime location for holding a drive, especially during a high-traffic event like Showtime.

“It’s important we do it at Lawrence High School because we have a very diverse community here,” she said. “That’s one of the problems of bone marrow donations is that a lot of them come from just one kind of person, and at Lawrence High School we have all kinds of people, and I just can’t think of a better place to do a bone marrow drive than here.”

It was not until this school year that Davis was contacted about being a match. He was matched to a 50-year-old man in need of the transplant.

“I was elated,” Davis said. “Just having the chance to maybe give somebody something that could literally save their life is an incredible feeling. I was still pretty excited that night and couldn’t calm down to go to bed.”

After being matched, there are two methods bone marrow can be extracted, depending on the age of both parties and the doctor’s opinion.

The more intense way is putting the donor to sleep and having the doctors extract the bone marrow from the pelvis. This happens only 30 percent of the time. The other 70 percent of donors get their blood drawn to get the marrow.

Davis will have his blood drawn.
“They will take peripheral stem cells simply by drawing my blood,” he said. “It will be as if I am donating blood. It just takes a little more time.”

Although the extraction process could be intimidating for some, Davis said no one should be scared away from becoming a donor because it could benefit someone in need.

To donate bone marrow, a candidate must be between 18 and 44 years old with no health problems and a healthy BMI. Davis and Huntsinger encourage all to get involved in the bone marrow drive when given the opportunity because it helps people who are ill.

“You can give someone a gift that money can’t buy,” Davis said. “I can’t stress enough how important it is to get out and get signed up. Some people are dealt some pretty tough cards in life, and you could be that person’s chance at a new beginning.”

In the year to come, Huntsinger, pre-med teacher Jennifer Hare and the Pre-Med Club hope to expand the drive, finding more donors that can save people’s lives. It only takes a Q-Tip swab from the inside of the cheek to discover if a match is made.

“A very, very small price to pay for giving someone a new chance at life,” Davis said.