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Lethbridge woman leads southern Alberta effort to find bone marrow donor match for family member

Feb 15, 2018 | 2:07 PM

LETHBRIDGE – Brayden Ross is a 17-year-old grade 12 student who should be gearing up for graduation. Instead, he’s finishing his last chemotherapy treatment at IWK Children’s Hospital in Halifax.

According to Lethbridge family member Jessica Quarterman, late last year, Brayden became ill – and at first everyone thought it was just the flu. He was diagnosed with Acute Myeloid Leukaemia in January.

“He’s a very active guy. He plays hockey, he plays rugby. Overall, he’s a really healthy guy. When he got sick in December, nobody was quite sure why, or what was going on. Of course, it turned out to be much more serious than that,” she explains.

Quarterman wants to do her part to help Ross, so she’s hoping to get as many people as possible in southern Alberta to register as a potential bone marrow donor with Canadian Blood Services’ OneMatch program, to give him a better chance of beating his cancer.

“The thing we’re trying to do now is get as many people swabbed as possible for the possibility of finding a bone marrow match. Brayden has a very rare bone marrow type, and so we’re thinking the more people that we test, the better our chances of finding a match for him.”

Ross’ immediate family members have all been tested but aren’t a match. Quarterman says it’s easy to register as a potential donor.

“Anybody in Canada can do a quick mouth or a cheek swab to see if they are a potential match for anybody in Canada who’s looking for a bone marrow donation. So, whether he’s in Nova Scotia, or any other part of the country, you don’t have to live there to test to be a match.”

Anyone interested in becoming part of the OneMatch program, can go to any Canadian Blood Services location.

In Lethbridge, it’s located at Lethbridge Centre. There’s an area there called a “self swab station.” A step-by-step process is outlined, and if you’re a potential match for anyone, the organization will contact you. The caveat is that donors must be between 17 to 35 years-old and a person’s best chance of finding a matching donor is within his or her own ethnic group.

Quarterman says if Ross goes into remission over the next couple of weeks, there’s a small window of opportunity when a bone marrow transplant can take place. That’s why they’re hoping to reach as many people possible now.

For more information on the OneMatch program, go to:https://blood.ca/en/stem-cell/onematch-information-new-registrants