Bone marrow donor matches save five lives

Since November 2022, five individuals who joined the national bone marrow registry drives at SUNY Orange, hosted in partnership with the Gift of Life Marrow Registry, have been matched with patients needing life-saving transplants, the college recently announced.

These successful matches were made possible through student and community donors. Finding a successful match can help those battling serious illnesses such as Leukemia or blood-borne cancer.

SUNY Orange campus nurse Marianne Sciucco said, “I really want to not only promote this worthy cause to the greater community but to recognize the generosity of our students and college community for taking the test (a cheek swab) and stepping up for those battling blood cancers,” Sciucco said.

Sherrill Murray-Lazarus, Gift of Life Hudson Valley coordinator, agrees with Sciucco, emphasizing the importance of these drives and their life-changing impact. “Every time I open my email and read about another match generated it takes my breath away. The College has five matches on their ‘Wall of Honor’ and five people are walking around, enjoying the crisp winter weather and living their best lives only because five SUNY Orange community donors were willing to stop and be swabbed at one of our drives. That is a profoundly amazing notion and a thought I cherish as I continue to work with and for Gift of Life.

“We are so very happy to come to SUNY Orange for our drives. So many young people who are altruistic, informed, and ready to help potentially save a stranger’s life, are perfect donors. When we find a match, our donor can either have the stem cell or bone marrow extraction here locally or be flown (all expenses paid) to Boca Raton with any companion of their choice, to the Gift of Life National Center to have the procedure done there. Potential donors must be 18 to 35 years old and in good health. This helps explain why college campuses are the perfect place to hold swabbing drives and why we are so successful. Our Hudson Valley Gift of Life team has made 120 matches in the last four years and we hope to keep on swabbing, keep on matching, and keep on saving lives — with the help of wonderful partners like SUNY Orange,” said Murray-Lazarus.

The College held a recent drive March 4 on its Newburgh campus and will be hosting a Middletown campus drive from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. March 26 in the first floor lobby of the Rowley Center. No registration is necessary. To learn more about Gift of Life, visit giftoflife.org.