Local residents can help save a young Gilroy father’s life by
taking a few minutes this weekend to learn if they can become blood
marrow donors.
Local residents can help save a young Gilroy father’s life by taking a few minutes this weekend to learn if they can become blood marrow donors.
Gilroy resident Hector Herrera needs a bone marrow transplant to help combat a severe type of leukemia. The 28-year-old, who is married with three small children, is undergoing intensive chemotherapy to fight his second bout of active cancer in three years.
Residents can help save Herrera – or potentially another patient – by undergoing a free, simple blood test this weekend to determine their eligibility to donate bone marrow.
The American Red Cross is running donation sites today and Saturday at the Marriott Hotel in Santa Clara. It also has an office at 2731 North First St. in San Jose that’s open during the week. Call for an appointment.
The test involves a health questionnaire and a prick of the finger to gather some blood. The results are entered into a national database. Citizens will be contacted by the Red Cross if they’re a match for any patient.
There’s no obligation to become a donor. However, the Red Cross asks that citizens should not go in knowing they won’t donate if they don’t match Herrera’s bone marrow type as it gives false hope to other patients.
The donation procedure involves removal of bone marrow from the hip and requires an overnight hospital stay.
For more information, contact the Red Cross at (800) 841-1986. Home testing kits, which run from $95 to $140, are also available at (800) 915-3695, or www.bonemarrowtest.com.
