adaab,

amar here. some of you may remember i used to be an active member of your little but fast-growing group. i want to tell you how you could help save a hard-to-save life. i will be respectful of your time and try to keep this message as short as possible.

shamsa, thank you so much for allowing me to to send this out to the group.

i came to know that one of us could literally help save a life of someone terminally ill with a rare bone marrow cancer. although the likelihood of finding a right match are small, i think we should at the least make an effort to register ourselves in hopes of saving someone's life someday.

here are the basic details:

• once diagnosed with this disease a bone marrow transplant is required shortly
• only people related closely ethnically (south asians in this case) are potential matches. among them a right match is even rarer.
  
• the donation is actually quite simple from what i read: basically, you are given injections to support overproduction of marrow, which is then released into your circulating blood. the cells are collected by removing blood from a vein in your arm during a simple procedure. this is very similar to donating blood.

don't donate to help a south asian but because you are a south asian who can help.

there are a few drives happening in NYC area this month:    click here for full details (narrow the list by picking NY or NJ)

 
if you can't attend any of these drives, please ask your family members and south asian friends to attend or go to this site and request a very simple home testing kit to be mailed to you free of cost if you are serious about donating.

let's help,
amar


Appeals & INFO:

SAMEER: http://www.nickmyers.com/helpsameer

VINAY: www.helpvinay.org

Past success story: Pia Awal www.matchpia.org.

Organization behind this drive: The Asian American Donor Program

Learn more about the disease at www.Marrow.org.