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Donor Drive to help people needing bone marrow transplants
April 7, 2014
Arnold School public health major Austin Luera donated bone
marrow for a child battling
non-Hodgkin lymphoma.
Austin Luera was a high school senior in the spring of 2012 when he signed up to be a potential bone marrow donor for a child or adult battling blood cancer.
He knew that the possibility of his being called was a long shot. Many people, including his own mother, are on a national bone marrow registry and are never called. But a cousin's death from cancer instilled in Luera and his family the commitment to help if they could.
Luera left his home in Maryland a few months later for his freshman year at the University of South Carolina – the college he chose because of the academic programs of the Arnold School of Public Health and the reputation of its exercise science program. Luera immersed himself in freshman life in those first weeks of the fall semester.
In September, the call came. Luera was a match for an 8-year-old boy battling non-Hodgkin lymphoma.
Luera, who had signed up as a donor through the DKMS registry (Delete Blood Cancer), said, "Honestly, the call was unexpected, and I really didn't have much time to think about. I didn't realize the impact that it might have at the time that the call came."
Now a B.A. public health major, Luera said it is important that people be aware of the importance of becoming a bone marrow donor. He is grateful that the Dean's Student Advisory Council at the Arnold School has partnered with Be The Match,® South Carolina, to hold a Bone Marrow Donor Drive from 11 a.m. – 2 p.m. Wednesday, April 9. The event will be located on the first-floor Atrium in the Public Health Research Center, located at 921 Assembly St.
"It is important to raise awareness about the need for bone marrow donors," he said. "More people are needed to help those needing bone marrow transplants, and the need for minority donors is particularly great."
On the Monday before Thanksgiving two years ago, Luera flew to the George Washington University Hospital in Washington, D.C., for the surgery the next day. The surgical procedure involved the removal of 1,000 milliliters of marrow from the pelvic bone. He spent one night in the hospital and was able to spend Thanksgiving with his family.
"It was an easier process than you might think," said Luera, who plans to pursue a graduate degree and become a hospital administrator. "The registry was able to work with my schedule, arranged for someone to greet me at the hotel when I arrived in Washington and had someone drive me to the hospital for the surgery."
Although he was sore from the surgery for a couple of days, Luera said his discomfort was nothing compared to the pain that be believed the boy needing the transplant must have felt.
"I would do it again in a heartbeat," he said. "It is humbling to realize that you may have the opportunity to save a life. You can't say 'no.' "
Because of privacy issues, donors and patients remain anonymous. As recently as a month ago, the child who received the bone marrow transplant was OK, said Luera, who hopes one day to meet the boy.
