Life can sometimes pack a lot of surprises, not all of them good. A good friend of mine and an aunt are both battling cancer: leukemia for my friend, and bone marrow and breast cancer for my aunt. When cancer hits so close to home, the treatment ceases to be abstract. You get to see what the cancer does to them, and then what the treatment does to their system. Definitely no fun and games there!

One part of the treatment in both of their cases is bone marrow transplant. My aunt already found a match, but my friend's only sister is not a match. He has to turn to donor banks worldwide, and he's having a much harder time finding a compatible donor. There are more chances someone of the same ethnic background (african caribbean) will be compatible, but blacks are under-represented in donor banks around the world.

So by way of helping, I'm spreading the word. Emru and his family and friends are hoping that a matching donor shows up. Becoming a donor is really easy (blood sample or mouth swab), and donating bone marrow is almost as painless.

And though a lot people give blood, bone marrow donors are just as essential (for all ethnic backgrounds). Please consider registering; many lives depend on these banks!

His website contains a lot of details about drives & cancer & donation worldwide. Please take a few minutes to visit his site [link] and help spread the word.