It's been a lucky two years. He needed a marrow transplant to treat his AML and would need a compatible unrelated volunteer marrow donor for the transplant. His family turned to the NMDP Registry since a family member was not a compatible match. A donor was found and Darius received his transplant in February 1997. When you hear cancer, it's shocking.
Marrow transplants require matching certain tissue traits of the donor and patient.
Because these traits are inherited, an African American donor will most likely match an African American patient, such as Darius. Although it is possible for an African American volunteer marrow donor to match a patient from any racial or ethnic group, the most likely match is an African American. For the past two years, the Williams family has participated in NMDP events and acted as patient advocates sharing their story to raise awareness in the African American community. One year after the transplant, Darius met his donor. It was really exciting to meet her.