Liquid Love Appeal on behalf of Pia Awal for a Bone Marrow Donor

[Guest guest]

I have read with great interest an appeal for Bone Marrow Donors on behalf of

Pia Awal living in USA. I sincerely believe this is a wonderful and one of the

best message you have posted on your message board.

This is because here is an opportunity offered by Swami to us all aged between

18 to 43 weighing at least 7.7 stones in good health with no serious medical

conditions, to perform a true NISHKAM (Self-less) act of sacrifice for a fellow

human being totally unrelated and unknown to him or her. The beauty of this act

of sacrifice is that it does not cost any thing to the potential donor either

in money terms or by way of side effects (very small risk) because one can

reproduce the Marrow within 30 days and be back at work within 7 days after the

donation during a stay in hospital for 2 days. The other beauty is that one can

donate marrow as many times as one can in one's life time until the age of 55

provided of course one stays in good health. TheYounger one joins a Register of

Donors i.e. from age of 18 the longer one will stay on the Donors register and

more chances one would have to save many lives.

The hard facts are that it is very difficult to find a suitable match firstly

due to the precision tissue match required (80-90%) for a successful donation,

secondly an asian can only save an asian's life, thirdly one may not be able to

find a suitable match within one's own family, fourthly chances of finding a

suitable match is only 10-20%, fifthly Leukaemia illness can happen to anyone

from birth to old age and sixthly one can stay on the register for whole of

one's life but may not get a call due to tissue not matching. When I say asian

person that means and includes, Indians, Pakistanis, Sri Lankans and Chinese. A

Chinese or White european or Afro person cannot save an asian's life and vice

versa due to our genes.

Thus a patient could be in Europe or Asia or Africa or Americas and likewise the

donor could be anywhere in the world. Just imagine the smile on the recipient

face and that of her/his family members by the donor willing to undergo a small

procedure with a view to save and give a lease of life. I can visualise the

tears of joy rolling down the cheeks of patient like Pia Awal and her family as

well as thousand others looking for a suitable donor. Sadly many simply die

because a suitable donor cannot be found.

This is due to lack of awareness amongst asians generally due to fear, apathy

and unwillingness to undergo a simple procedure to donate Marrow (we call it

MUSHY LOVE as the marrow is thick and is found in our long bones whereas Swami

calls blood as Liquid Love).

Sri Sathya Sai Service Organisation UK has been working in conjunction with The

ANthony NOlan TRust, a registered charity which is one of the four registries

which maintains an international register of Donors in the UK. We have been

raising the awareness of Bone Marrow Donation amongst all communities since

February 2000 and collecting blood samples for tissue matching and encouraging

many people to go on the International Register of Donors maintained by The

Anthony Nolan Trust. We have organised some 40 Donors clinics and addressed in

excess of 15,000 people and given out information to many more since February

2000.

To put in perspective the urgent need of donors, there are only some 9,000 Asian

Donors registered on the Anthony Nolan Trust register as at 31st July 2004 out

of some 3 million asians living in the UK. Also figures are not that

encouraging either for white Europeans as there are some 350,000 donors out of

20 Million population of UK. There are thousand of patients from all

communities living in all continents of world who are looking for suitable

donors right now and the chance of their succeeding is not very encouraging.

Hence all communities especially Asians need to wake up and do something about

it right now.

Hence I would urge all followers of SAI Teachings in the USA, UK and other

countries to take stock and ask themselves a simple question what is the

purpose of life. Surely the answer must me to make use of this healthy body

which SWAMI has blessed to each one of us to save someone's life not only once

but many times over at no cost to us. Following on from this, if one of our

family member requires Bone marrow donation, would we not be the first in the

queue of donors to give a donation regardless of risks or side effects, if that

is case then why the same approach is not adopted if a third person requires a

donation. Why do we back off?

Let me request you all to go and contact Bone Marrow registries in our

respective countries and register as a donor by giving a two table spoons of

blood sample. I also take this opportunity in offering my heartfelt prayers to

SWAMI to bless Pia and her family courage, strength and vision to face this

difficult times. Also I am sure she is taking Vibhuti in water or by rubbing

it.

Regards

Bharat Handa

Co-ordinator Sri Sathya Sai Lekaumia Awareness Programme (SSSLAP)

Sri Sathya Sai Service Organisation UK

01895 257027/01895 237091 (Fax)

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Subj:    [saibabanews] Seva needed     

   18/09/2004 17:44:41 GMT Standard Time    

   Angelicpassage (AT) aol (DOT) com    

Reply-to:    saibabanews    

   saibabanews, saibaba_news    

Sent from the Internet (Details)    

   

Can you help us save Pia's life?

Pia Awal, aged 29, is engaged to be married in October, but has been diagnosed

with Acute Myelogenous Leukaemia (AML), a cancer of the blood. A second grade

teacher, Pia (who lives in New York City) has fought the cancer with fierce

determination, strong faith and a sense of humor.

Now Pia's best chance at a cure is a procedure called a stem cell transplant

which is done by harvesting stem-cells from a donor's blood or from a bone

marrow donation. While all donors are welcome, Pia urgently needs an Indian,

Pakistani or Bangladeshi or South Asian donor.

There will be a Bone Marrow Registration Drive held on Saturday September 25, 2004 at 10 AM, at:

The Radisson at the Port

8701 Astronaut Blvd. (SR A1A)

Cape Cabaveral, Florida 32920 USA

In conjunction with the Life Keep It Going Conference

Potential donors give a small test tube of blood, which will be drawn by Kids

Beating Cancer. The sample will be tissue typed and put into the national

registry. If there is a match between a potential donor and a patient, further

testing will be done. If a match is confirmed, the actual donation will be done

through harvesting stem-cells from the donor's blood or through a bone marrow

donation. Donors need to be between the ages of 18 and 60.

For more information contact:

Judi Cavazos at 321434-7000 ext 32919

For additional information on marrow and stem cell donation, visit the National

Marrow Donor Program (NMDP) www.marrow.org

Kids Beating Cancer, Inc. is 1 of 9 Marrow Donor Recruitment Groups contracted

with the NMDP and the only group in the State of Florida

www.kidsbeatingcancer.com (866) 800-HOPE