Students continue strong participation in bone marrow registry drive

Liberty University hosted a Be The Match Bone Marrow Registry Drive in the DeMoss Hall grand lobby on Thursday, with 270 individuals signing up and providing a DNA cheek swab. According to Dan Gariepy, Be The Match’s community engagement representative for Virginia, a typical college campus drive normally attracts about 50-75 registrants.

“Liberty is, once again, ahead of the curve,” Gariepy said, noting that last February’s campus drive yielded extremely positive results. From the over 600 new registrants at that drive, six preliminary matches were found.

“To keep that in perspective, the national average is for one in 540 people to be called,” he explained. “Liberty had six out of 600 people; that doesn’t happen most places.”

Gariepy said one of the students identified as a match donated bone marrow this summer. Two more are planning to donate soon, pending further tests.

“I think LU students just get the concept of service,” Gariepy said. “And that’s what makes Liberty different than most other schools. I think they have a different culture. I think Liberty students understand what we’re doing here and genuinely want to help.”

He said Liberty seniors Emily Ridge and Grant McClure, coordinators, were the “driving force” behind Thursday’s event.

For Ridge, helping with the event is personal because she is a leukemia survivor.

“They were able to use my own bone marrow,” she said, “but most people don’t have that option. There are many people with leukemia who don’t have a match right now … so it’s important to me to get more people on the registry so more people can get matched.”

And students like Heleen Mendez, a freshman, are doing just that.

“I’ve always been somebody who thinks that whatever I can do to save someone else’s life is important and that it is our job as Christians,” she said. “So I signed up to be an organ donor. I’m a blood donor as well, and (now) I’m signing up to be a possible match. And whatever else I can do to help someone, I’ll do. I believe these are just little things that I can do (and they might) save someone else’s life. Why would I not do it?”

Last semester’s Be The Match drive was hosted by Liberty’s College of Applied Study & Academic Success (CASAS) and Math Emporium in honor of Debbie Kelly, a Math Emporium staff tutor who was diagnosed with myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS) while battling cancer. Kelly died on Aug. 25, but it was her story that inspired so many students to participate in Be The Match drives on campus.

“Debbie Kelly loved math and was passionate about helping students learn,” said Dr. Kathy Spradlin, coordinator of the Math Emporium. “Students knew she cared about them. When they heard she needed a bone marrow transplant, even students who did not know her but had heard about her, came to the bone marrow drive. We were thrilled to learn that six donors had been found in the spring drive and are pleased a second drive was held this fall. Many came to this drive to honor her memory.”