Anjali Chandra, a 10th grader from Girls Preparatory School has organized a city-wide bone marrow registry drive in honor of Stanford Professor Nalini Ambady at Chattanooga Christian Assembly on Sunday.
Dr. Ambady has had a relapse of acute myleogenus leukemia and only has three weeks left to receive the bone marrow transfusion that could be her savior. After hearing the heart-wrenching story of Dr. Ambady on CNN, Anjali knew she had to do something. She began to research, finding that the number of South Asian donors is so low that a South Asian marrow patient only has a one in 20,000 chance of finding a match. However, a person of Caucasian origin has a one in eight chance of finding a compatible match. She then explored some of the most significant reasons for this shortage.
Anjali found that people were apprehensive about donating primarily due to the lack of awareness about the procedure and the ignorance that they could, for a little inconvenience be giving the gift of life to a fellow human being. There are stigmas about the procedure being painful and invasive but it is just as simple as donating blood and shares the same risks. This lack of awareness can be overcome by reaching out to community leaders to inform the public on the need for more bone marrow donors.
Anjali is holding a bone marrow registry drive at Chattanooga Christian Assembly on Sunday, from 12:30-3:00 pm. She would like to thank Pastor V.P. Abraham and Mr. Santhosh Mathews, the Missions Coordinator for CCA, for graciously agreeing to host this event. The best gift one can give to another is the gift of life. This event is not limited to South Asians, and all people between the ages of 18 and 44 are invited to find out if they can be the donor that saves another individual’s life. People over 44 years of age can register, but donation has to be on a case by case basis. Anjali would sincerely appreciate representation from all ethnic, religious and socio-economic groups from Chattanooga because she would really like to make this a community event.
Registering to be a donor is as simple as swabbing your cheek to get a DNA sample. If you come, you could potentially save someone’s life.
Contact Anjali Chandra at 423 499-9888 or practicephysicians@gmail.com for any questions.
The event will be held at Chattanooga Christian Assembly, 8100 Bermerwood Drive Chattanooga, Tn. 37421 (off Jenkins Road).