I never had a second thought. Everyone in my family was very supportive. In fact, my husband said it was a shame he couldn't help someone with his marrow. I would do it again. During Hispanic Heritage Month, a time of celebrating the contributions of Hispanic volunteers, such as Luz, the NMDP is saluting and thanking Hispanic volunteer donors for sharing the gift of life.
Marrow transplants require matching certain tissue traits of the donor and the patient.
Because the characteristics that determine marrow are inherited in the same way as hair or eye color, a patient's best possible match is another family member. Some characteristics of marrow type are unique to people of specific ancestry. Although it is possible for a Hispanic patient to match a donor from any racial or ethnic group, the most likely match is a Hispanic donor. There is still an urgent need for more volunteer Hispanic marrow donors. The more volunteers the NMDP is able to recruit from Hispanic communities, the better chance patients of every racial and ethnic background will have of finding matched donors.