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Battling for life: Youngstown event seeks to increase bone-marrow donors
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Leticia and Chris Gonzalez take time out to share a dance at the Be the Match bone marrow donor drive Sunday at the The Organizacion Civica y Cultural Hispana Americana Banquet Hall. The drive was an attempt to find a matching donor for Chris Gonzalez and increase the number of registered donors in the Hispanic community.
YOUNGSTOWN
People, music, food and games filled the Organizacion Civica y Cultural Hispana Americana Banquet Hall on Shirley Road on Sunday.
The atmosphere was that of a party or celebration, but the ultimate goal was to save the life of 66-year-old Chris Gonzalez and possibly countless others in need of a bone-marrow transplant.
Gonzalez, of Campbell, was diagnosed with an aggressive form of leukemia in January and needs a bone-marrow transplant.
The event Sunday was an effort to find a matching donor for a bone-marrow transplant and register more people in the minority community as bone-marrow donors.
Tonya Davis, of the National Marrow Donor Program, said people in need like Gonzalez are most likely to match someone of their own race and ethnicity. She said of the 10 million registered donors, few are Hispanic.
“This drive is particularly important. Of the 10 million registered donors about 71 percent are Caucasian and only 7 percent are Hispanic,
so this is beneficial for a lot of people,” she said. “It is important that we have as many people of all ethnicities as possible.”
More than 500 people of all ethnicities came through the OCCHA banquet hall to support the Gonzalez family. More than 100 signed up to become bone-marrow donors.
Those who do not match Gonzalez will be entered into the national database as potential donors for others.
Leticia Esparra-Gonzalez, Chris Gonzalez’s wife, said the family has been overwhelmed by the support from the community.
“This has been on outpouring of support. I am humbled and I am amazed at the number of people willing to register to match not only my husband, but someone else. It is truly amazing,” she said.
Leticia Gonzalez said her husband will have a 70-percent chance of survival if a bone-marrow donor is found, but virtually no chance of survival without a matching donor.
“It is just a matter of time. They are keeping the leukemia at bay with chemotherapy, but they cannot keep doing that,” she said.
Chris Gonzalez, with a smile on his face, sat to the rear of the banquet hall shaking hands and playing dominoes during most of the event. He said he is overwhelmed by the support from the community and hopes the event will help someone even if none of those in attendance are a match for him.
“This is supposed to be an event to help find a donor for me, and if that happens, that is great, but I just hope it happens for somebody,” he said. “As long as it helps someone, I am happy.”
Chris and Leticia have eight children and witnessed one of their kids go through the donation process as a donor. Their son was called as a donor for a woman and made the life-saving gift. Three years later, Chris Gonzalez was diagnosed with leukemia and in need of a transplant.
Davis said many people do not register as donors because they do not understand the donation process. She said most people who register are not called upon to donate and most of those who are called as donors go through a simple and painless process where stem cells are separated from the blood and the blood returned to the body.