Don't let fear keep you from donating

Don't let fear keep you from donating

The Pasley family

By Jessica Pasley

On February 7, my family appeared on CNN to raise awareness about the critical need for minorities to register with the National Marrow Donor Program. February 7 marked the seventh anniversary of my daughter's death. She was 2.

Since 1999, my family has worked to spread the word about the critical need for minorities to join the NMDP. The message is falling on deaf ears.

Hello! Wake up! Are we killing off our own by not stepping up? Are we turning our heads, expecting someone else to do the job?

No one else can.

Because of genetics, you are most likely to match a person within your own ethnic group.

Although Jade died a few months after transplantation, she had a donor and a second chance. Her twin, Jillian, now 9, has had TWO transplants from the same donor. Jillian calls him "hero."

Try to understand the kind of hope donors provide families. Try to imagine having absolutely NO CONTROL, no ability to help your child? To know there's a possibility of saving him or her, but there aren't enough people to help? Explain that to your child.

I have lost one child, watched as my other daughter fought for her life and consoled my son, 12, as he watched his sisters suffer.

I have always believed that if Oprah Winfrey, a household name worldwide, asked minorities to become registered donors, it would happen. Her words are GOLDEN. Her level of influence is unparalleled. It would be amazing - the potential lives saved, the good deeds performed, the energy of gratitude. There would be no tool to measure such an astonishing act, no words good enough to say thank you. It would be life changing.

Get educated. Tell others. Get registered.

Is the past haunting us - fear of the medical community and Tuskegee? We are a very intelligent, determined and prideful race - we have fought for centuries to save ourselves - why stop now?