Rebecca Edgin, a freshman cheerleader at Carlsbad High School, has been diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukemia. Rebecca has undergone chemotherapy as part of her treatment; now she needs a bone marrow transplant. Unfortunately, a match has not yet been found--neither of Rebecca's siblings, one of which is a fraternal twin, match.
To help Rebecca, a bone marrow drive will be held at Scripps Memorial Hospital in Encinitas outside the cardiopulmonary department. The first day of the drive will be on Valentine's Day, from 6-10 a.m. If potential donors aren’t able to make it, the drive will also be held on Saturday Feb. 23 from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Participants must be between the ages of 18 and 44. They will be sampled with just a simple cheek swab--no blood involved--to see if they could be the match for Rebecca. The cheek swab sample will add potential donors to a registry, through which matches are identified for patients. For those who would like to help the Edgin family in another way, volunteers are always welcome.
For more information on the bone marrow donation process, visit the "Be the Match" company website at marrow.org.
