LPU-NSS organised an Awareness Seminar in association with the ‘Match for Marrow’ organization, on 31st Jan, 2016 at Shri Baldev Raj Mittal Auditorium.
The guest speakers for the event were Ms.Jasleen Garcha, founder of Match for Marrow; Mr. Tota Singh Dhaliwal, a research scholar; Dr. H.S Sidhu, a homeopathic doctor; and Ms. Mandy Takhar, a social activist, model and actress. Each of them shared real life experiences of the good work being carried out by ‘Match For Marrow’.
Mrs. Simi Singh, of the Arjun Vir Foundation, shared the heart wrenching story of her family’s personal loss when Arjun Vir Singh, the family’s only son succumbed to Lymphoblastic Leukemia. Theirs was a tragedy that could have been averted, had a matching bone marrow donor been found in time. Due to the inadequate marrow donor registry in India, with just one Bone Marrow Registry located in Kolkata, Arjun couldn’t get a donor.
Mrs. Singh shared that Arjun was an animator and game designer, and when he learnt of his illness he wanted to design a game that could show people how lymphoblastic leukemia affects the body and how the marrow of another person can save a life. She also added that when Arjun was in hospital with slim hope of getting a donor, he felt the desire to start an organisation with the help of which other patients suffering like him could find a donor without any delay. This dream is being realised by ‘Match for Marrow’.
Mrs.Singh requested all the students and staff members attending the seminar, to become a part of the foundation by registering themselves as interested donors. After that they would be called for the cheek swab test and samples would be sent to the U.S for stem cell profiling. Following that would be a fitness test and thereafter each donor would be added to the worldwide registry for Marrow Donors.
At the end, Ms. Jasleen Garcha threw some light on the whole process of becoming a part of the world registry of Marrow Donors. She also showed videos of the process of marrow donation, so that myths and fears regarding bone marrow transplant and donations could be dispelled and more people could be encouraged to become a part of this registry to save lives worldwide
