07/08/13  Portland, Ore.

OHSU Doernbecher Children’s Hospital hosts in-hospital ‘race’ for patients unable to participate in Portland’s Be The Match Walk+Run

Media Alert

***Editors: Please send news crews to OHSU Doernbecher’s first-floor lobby

What

Pediatric blood and marrow transplant patients unable to participate in the July 14 Walk+Run will don racing bibs and walk the halls of OHSU Doernbecher to celebrate their life-saving transplants, made possible by bone marrow and cord blood donors found through Be The Match.

When

Tuesday, July 9, 11 a.m.

Where

OHSU Doernbecher Children’s Hospital, 700 S.W. Campus Drive, Portland, OR 97239

Who

• OHSU Doernbecher patients, families who found a donor through the Be The Match registry
• Eneida Nemecek, M.D., M.B.A., director, OHSU Doernbecher Pediatric Blood and Marrow Transplant Program
• Magda Silva, senior executive, Be The Match, Northwest District

Patients recovering from a life-saving marrow transplant at OHSU Doernbecher Children’s Hospital can’t participate in the upcoming walk celebrating marrow donation, but that won’t stop them from lacing up their shoes.

They’ll hold their own walk – down the hallways of OHSU Doernbecher – to celebrate the Be The Match registry, their donors, physicians, nurses and staff, and their second chance at life. The event will take place Tuesday, July 9, less than one week before the official Be The Match Walk+Run which will be held on July 14, 2013, at Portland’s downtown World Trade Center Plaza.

“Be The Match recruits volunteer donors in the United States and connects with other registries around the world to help us find the best available donor for each patient. We are very proud to partner with Be The Match to help patients in need of life-saving bone marrow and cord blood transplants,” said Eneida Nemecek, M.D., M.B.A., director of OHSU Doernbecher’s Pediatric Blood and Marrow Transplant Program.

More than 10,000 in the United States are diagnosed every year with a disease that can be treated with bone marrow transplant. For many patients with blood cancers like leukemia and other serious diseases of the blood, immune or metabolic system, a bone marrow or cord blood transplant is their best hope for a cure. Most patients (about 70 percent) do not have a marrow donor in their family and must rely on Be The Match to find an unrelated donor. Be The Match registry is the world’s largest and most diverse listing of volunteer marrow donors and umbilical cord blood units in the world.

During the OHSU Doernbecher in-house walk+run patients will walk with physicians, nurses, staff and caregivers around the inpatient unit and outpatient clinic. They will also sign “Messages of Thanks” to the supporters walking and running for all bone marrow transplant patients on Sunday, July 14. Those messages will be on display at the Be The Match Walk+Run at the World Trade Center Plaza.

Be The Match Walk+Run raises funds to add more donors to the Be The Match registry, help patients with uninsured treatment costs, and support research to improve the outcomes of bone marrow transplantation, giving more patients hope for a cure.