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Saving lives one donor match at a time prompted Mississippi College students to sign up.
What began as a class project on the Clinton campus led 125 MC students to join the National Marrow Donor Program on March 18.
“There are people who suffer every day who cannot find a match,” says MC student Taylor Hawthorn of Waynesboro. It took just a few minutes for the 19-year-old English major to fill out the paperwork and give her consent to join.
Founded in 1986, the National Marrow Donor Program works with hospitals to treat patients with life-threatening blood diseases that can be treated with a blood stem cell transplant.
The state’s program is housed at the University of Mississippi Medical Center in Jackson.
MC freshman Tatiyana Brown, 19, didn’t hesitate for a moment as she added her name to the list at the Hederman Science Building. “This is a great way to help other people,” said the elementary education major from Jackson. “I’d be happy to save people at any time.”
Leaders of the program seek to add names to their registry, typically targeting people between the ages of 18 and 44. In the Magnolia State, Mississippi State University, the University of Mississippi, the University of Southern Mississippi, Tougaloo College, UMMC and Mississippi College are among the schools participating.
“We are trying to get all the colleges,” says Mattie Coburn, the program’s donor recruiter in Jackson. “This is an excellent turnout” at Mississippi College.
An MC biology professor, Stephanie Carmicle says the connection of the Baptist-affiliated university to the national donor program began last year as a class service learning project. In 2015, a total of 124 Mississippi College students signed up.
By joining the Be the Match Marrow Registry, MC students say they’re delighted to have the potential to serve real needs at transplant centers.
When a volunteer registers as a potential donor, his/her tissue type is listed on the donor file and gets compared with the tissue type of patients in need of a transplant. If the person is determined to be the best available patient match, the individual may be asked to donate blood cell stems.
For more information, go to BeTheMatch.org or call 1-800-627-7692 or contact Mattie Coburn at mcoburn@umc.edu
Photo: National Marrow Donor Program campaign to sign up Mississippi College students on the Clinton campus on March 18, 2016
