Florida Hospital and Orlando Magic Partner to Raise Awareness about the Bone Marrow Transplant Registry
Florida Hospital and Orlando Magic Partner to Raise Awareness about the Bone Marrow Transplant Registry
The event is being held in memory of a patient who lost his life waiting for a donor
On March 30, Florida Hospital and the Orlando Magic are coming together to host the Terrell Wilson Celebrity Drive, a bone marrow registration and blood drive, in memorial of Terrell Wilson who lost his battle with leukemia on Christmas Day 2009. Orlando Magic Community Ambassador Bo Outlaw and Orlando Magic Dancers along with other local celebrities will be at the event to help raise awareness about becoming a member of the bone marrow transplant registry as well as encourage the Central Florida community to join the registry or donate blood to save a life!
Terrell Wilson, a 21-year-old, African American, was unable to find a match on the bone marrow transplant registry to help in his fight against leukemia. One major reason is because African Americans are under-represented on the registry and are the least likely minority group to find a bone marrow donor. They only have a 60 percent chance of finding a donor compared to Caucasians who have an 88 percent chance. Join the registry with a simple cheek swab at the event and you could save a life!
Today, the majority of bone marrow donations do not involve surgery. The patient's doctor most often requests a peripheral blood stem cell (PBSC) donation, which is non-surgical. The second way of donating is marrow donation, which is a surgical procedure. In each case, donors typically go home the same day they donate. For more information, visit www.marrow.org.
The Florida Center for Cellular Therapy, located at Florida Hospital, is Central Florida's first and only comprehensive bone marrow transplant center for both adult and pediatric patients. Since 1996, they have performed more than 350 blood and marrow transplants.
WHEN:
Tuesday, March 30, 2010
7 a.m. - 3 p.m.
WHERE:
Florida Hospital Orlando - Creation Conference Center
601 E. Rollins St.
Orlando, FL 32803
