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Leah Hennessey: Only 1 in 540 people on the bone marrow donor registry will get a call that they’ve matched

Leah Hennessey/LinekdIn

Feb 7, 2025, 20:27

Leah Hennessey: Only 1 in 540 people on the bone marrow donor registry will get a call that they’ve matched

Leah Hennessey, Design strategist at LINK and Owner of Leah Hennessey Design, posted on LinkedIn:

“Yesterday I found out that someone from my hometown who swabbed their cheek with after my diagnosis in 2016 was matched and is donating their stem cells today. Cells have to be transplanted quickly, which means someone’s life could be saved tomorrow.

In case you don’t know, only 1 in 540 people on the bone marrow donor registry will ever get a call that they’ve matched with a recipient. It’s RARE. Whether you’re a match for someone is based on genetic markers, not blood type. But 70% of patients don’t have a fully matched donor in their family (don’t ask me how HLA typing works). If you DO get the call and end up donating, it’s generally through a process that’s similar to donating platelets – no operating tables or hospital stays. And donating is 100% free, including any travel and even lost wages if you have to take time off work.

I knew I was going to need a bone marrow transplant pretty early in my diagnosis. I think around the time that Robert Hennessey was shaving my head in these pictures. It took four more months of treatments and searching for my doctors to find the right donor for me. Treatments are improving, but there are still people who never find a match.

I hope you register. It’s just a cheek swab in the mail!

Maybe in another 9 years, I’ll hear about someone who saw this LinkedIn post that’s on their way to save someone’s life.”