The Sunflower Fund honours fallen heroes
The organisation aims to grow a healthy, effective, ethnically diverse registry of committed donors.
In commemoration of bone marrow, stem cell donation and leukaemia awareness month The Sunflower Fund honours fallen heroes who have passed on due to the illness.
The vision of The Sunflower Fund is to save the lives of children and adults diagnosed with blood diseases by increasing the number of patients able to transplant. The organisation aims to grow a healthy, effective, ethnically diverse registry of committed donors.
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The Fund will be educating the general public about blood diseases and the importance of becoming a blood stem cell donor and will host a blood stem cell donor drive. The event will be held at the Olive Convention Centre (Hall 2) on Saturday, 21 September, a day after National Sunflower Day, from 9.30am to 14.30pm.
Regional manager, Stephanie Berry said, “The chances of finding this match are 1:100 000 and the best chance of a matched donor is within your own ethnic background. There is only a 25 per cent chance that a sibling will be a match so the remaining 75 per cent of patients rely on an unrelated matched donor being found. It is therefore important that people of all races register as donors, especially in South Africa, so that all patients have the opportunity of finding a life-saving donor.”
To register as a donor is free and involves a non-invasive cheek swab. One needs to be between the ages of 18 and 45 years, weigh over 50kg with a BMI <40, lead a healthy lifestyle and be willing to help any patient. All potential donors are requested not to eat, drink, chew gum or smoke an hour before coming through to register.
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The families of fallen heroes, Aphiwe Khuzwayo, Khosi Malinga, Matthew Thomson, Matthew MacDonald and Tashnika Rambali, will be present.
A host of other activities including an aerobics sessions led by instructor TK Ngiba, ice skating and other health screening tests will be offered by Lancet and the CANSA association.
For more information about the donor drive, contact Xolani Hlongwane on 031-266-1148 or email xolani@sunflowerfund.org
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