Hundreds of people turned out Monday for a daylong blood and bone marrow drive in honor of Bowling Green infant Mya Henderson, who, at 9 months old, is battling two forms of leukemia.
#8220It s awesome, said family member Stephen Epley as he looked around the auxiliary gym at Western Kentucky University s Diddle Arena. #8220I don t think the marrow tables have been empty all day.
In all, 575 people were placed on the National Marrow Donor Program registry, while 167 units of blood were collected surpassing the American Red Cross goal of 150, Epley said this morning. Of the 167 donors, 86 gave blood for the first time on Monday.
A legion of volunteers including campus organizations Sigma Kappa and Alpha Epsilon Delta kept things moving, watching children while their parents donated and handing out T-shirts to all those who gave blood.
Pictures of Mya were placed around the gym, while a slide show of pictures played on a large screen in the corner.
By 2:30 p.m.
, less than four hours into the drive, the gym was humming with activity. Lines of people waited patiently for 45 minutes for their turn to donate more beds and staff members had to be brought in around 4 p.m.
to alleviate the wait time.
#8220It s awesome, said Evan Henderson, Mya s father, as he sat on a folding chair with a post-donation band of bright red gauze holding a cotton ball on his arm. #8220This is awesome.
Mya, who was diagnosed two months ago with acute lymphocytic and acute myelogenous leukemia, is resting at home in Bowling Green after a round of chemotherapy, Henderson said. She is scheduled to travel back to the Monroe Carell Children s Hospital at Vanderbilt University at the end of this month to begin preparation for a bone marrow transplant, a procedure that will require her to stay near the hospital for 100 days in case her body reacts badly.
Evan Henderson and his wife Katrina both WKU alums also have a 3-year-old daughter, Alexa, for whom the family is trying to provide a normal life.
#8220It s tougher when we re all spread apart, he said, but things are better now that the family s back together. #8220Mya s doing great since she s been home, she s been eating more, playing more. She s more active, 10 times better than in the hospital.
Some of the donors Monday were responding to the Battle of the Badges, a challenge issued to local law enforcement to sign up for the bone marrow donor registry. It appeared as though the Bowling Green Fire Department of which Evan Henderson is a member was leading, perhaps because of a friendly threat Evan Henderson made to his colleagues.
#8220I told em they d better come cause I d be checking them off my list if they didn t come, he said, laughing.
Jenny Barbee, a 21-year-old WKU junior from Cave City, both donated blood and was registered for the National Marrow Donor Program despite having to leave mid-process for a final and return an hour later. She heard about the drive, sponsored by the WKU Alumni Association, through an e-mail sent to all WKU students.
#8220I ve done it before I wanted to donate more, she said as she relaxed with a can of Sprite and a brownie after her donation.
#8220To know that it ll help a specific person it was a real big influence on coming out. ..
. It was worth having to wait.
Registering to be a bone marrow donor was something Barbee wanted to do for a long time, she said, but was deterred by the 52 fee.
Thanks to the #8220Thanks, Mom donor registration drive, she and everyone else who registers from now until May 21 won t have to pay that fee.
The National Marrow Donor Program may have saved the life of Bowling Green resident Deborah Mahan, who was diagnosed five years ago with chronic myelogenous leukemia at the age of 45. A perfect match was found on the national registry, and Mahan was given a bone marrow transplant on March 6, 2003.
She had no complications and is now in complete remission. She met her donor in May 2004 and still keeps in touch with her.
#8220What you re doing is a fantastic thing, Mahan said of the national registry.
#8220People do survive, and you re helping them to survive. ..
. Bone marrow transplant was a cure for me.
Those who couldn t come out on Monday are encouraged to sign up for the National Marrow Donor Program through its Web site, www.
marrow.org. A kit free through May 21 will be sent in the mail, which the donor must complete and send back before being placed on the list.
Evan Henderson and his family, all of whom were tested at the hospital for potential matches for Mya, are all on the list, he said. He thanked the community and the fire department for their support, and encouraged others to join the registry as well.
#8220If you re a positive match for someone, that s somebody s life, he said.
#8220It s like the lottery the more you have to choose from, the better the chances of winning.
Donations for the Henderson family are accepted at any BB T Bank branch.
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