This may not be the proper place to post this but it seems to be the best. I'd be happy to repost this anywhere it can be seen and shared by Native Americans.

I don't believe this is necessarily an isolated problem and, in addition to asking for help for this young lady, I'd like to encourage people to consider contributing for the benefit of others. The local hospital (Vassar Bros., Poughkeepsie, NY) reported 21 people diagnosed with leukemia between 1992 and 1994. 2 of these were African Americans.

Nataka Neely, an African American, graduated from high school this past year with more then a high school diploma. In January of this past year she was diagnosed with leukemia. She is currently going to the Rosewell Park Cancer Clinic in Buffalo, New York for daily treatment.

This past week the National Marrow Donor Program sponsored a donor clinic where members of the community that Nataka grew up in, students and faculty of her old high school, had their blood drawn to see if they might be bone marrow matches for Nataka. The quest to find a match for Nataka is made tougher because she is an African American.

According to the National Marrow Donor Program Registry minorities only have a 30 to 40 percent chance of finding a matching donor. Usually it is a sibling who is found to have a suitable match. This is not the case for Nataka.

The chances of any two unrelated individuals matching vary widely depending on how frequently the individuals antigens are found in the population. Because a person's most likely match outside the immediate family is someone of the same race, patients from the minority communities are less likely then non-minorities to find matched donors on the National Marrow Donor Registry. Because minority tissue types tend to be more specific in nature then caucasian there is a much greater need for volunteer marrow donors from the African-American, Asian-Pacific Islander, Hispanic and American Indian communities. The larger the percentage of people registered to be donors, the better the likelihood of finding a match.

Marrow Donors are needed. To find out how to become a member of the National Marrow Donor Program you can call their office at 1-800-MARROW-2 (1-800-627-7692) or contact your local hospital. The NMDP address is 3433 Broadway St, NE, Suite 500, Minneapolis, Minn., 55413.

The first step in becoming a donor is to contact the NMDP or your local hospital. The second step is a simple blood test. If you are found to be a preliminary match additional blood tests will be required. If you become a donor, marrow, which is a liquid, is carefully removed from the back of your hip bone. There is no incision and no bone is removed. The procedure last about 1 hour. Some donors may experience soreness or stiffness for a few days following the procedure while others experience little discomfort.

Currently a grant from the Department of the Navy pays for all minority testing (about $42/test) and additional expenses are picked up by the patient or the patients medical insurance.

Help Nataka Neely get the chance of a lifetime by being tested for the marrow donor program. If it doesn't help Nataka it may help another person suffering from this life threatening disease.

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