Be The Match. Save A Life. Be A Hero
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Rachel LeBeane
Breeze-Courier Writer
TAYLORVILLE — There are many ways to save a life. Stories of people risking their lives to save people from burning cars, drowning, muggings, and even trains often appear in the news. They are lauded as heroes. But not all life saving heroes are so high profile. Some heroes are quiet and humble – no less important, but often over looked. Heroes like Marty Deetz. A permanent substitute teacher in the Taylorville School District, Marty does not seem at first glance like someone who has potentially saved another life. But she has, through a selfless donation of blood stem cells.
Marty is a local, born and raised here. “I’m from Blue Mound, and I’ve been here my whole life. I’m a permanent substitute teacher at Taylorville. I’m primarily at north school, so I work with Kindergarten, First, and Second grades.” As a teacher, Marty is constantly trying to guide children towards a brighter future. But her desire to help people started even earlier. She first became inspired to be a hero when she saw a Be The Match booth at Richland Community College.
“They were talking about it and explaining what it was. I thought it was an amazing organization that I would want to be a part of, so I signed up right then and there,” Marty shared with a laugh,“They had the cheek swabs and everything.”
With that simple cheek swab, Marty became a part of the Be The Match Registry. This registry keeps a catalogue of willing donors across the country. Doctors with patients in need of specific donations can hop onto the registry and search for someone who might be a match. When it comes to bone marrow and blood stem cells, relatives are often not a match, making programs like Be The Match irreplaceable for finding treatment for patients in need.
One question posed to Marty was why she decided to do it. The answer was simple: She wanted to help save a life.
“I had no idea this was a thing until I say the booth at Richland, but the more I thought about it, I just realized: A few days of discomfort on my part is nothing compared to what the person I’m donating to has experienced. If this discomfort is all it takes to potentially save someone’s life, and give them more time with their family, I would do it. I thought to myself, if one of my parents or a sibling or someone I loved was sick, I would hope someone would be generous enough to donate.” Marty’s simple words express a profound love and compassion that should be an inspiration for everyone.
Being a part of the registry does not mean you will get picked to be someone’s donor. According to Marty, it can take years before you match up with someone.
“I didn’t hear anything from them for maybe five or so years,” She explained, “Then, I got a call this past September saying that I was a potential match for somebody. I was so happy to be contacted. You know, some people on the registry, they never get contacted. I was thrilled. They asked if I would be interested in moving forward and getting some more testing done to see if I would be the best fit. I immediately agreed. I found out in late November that I was the best fit for the patient.”
By being the ’best fit,’ Marty was the perfect match for someone in need of a donation of blood stem cells. Knowing that her contribution could be the difference between life and death for someone, Marty set about preparing herself for the donation process.
“For five days prior to the donation, I had to get injections of a medicine called Filgrastim. That medicine increased my white blood cell count and stem cells. While you are doing that, you have to keep hydrated and take some medicines to help with the side effects,” Marty said, “On donation day, you are hooked up to a machine that filters your blood. There is a needle in one arm and a needle in another arm. The blood comes out and go into this machine where the stem cells are filtered out, and the blood return back into the body through the other arm. It was interesting. All of my stem cells got filtered into a bag. I didn’t loose any blood; they just took the stem cells.”
Afterwards, Marty’s donation was transported to the patient’s hospital. The day after it arrived, the patient received the blood stem cells Marty had donated. She explained that a direct donation like hers was not always how the process was done. Sometimes the donation was frozen for transportation.
Now that she has completed her donation, Marty has returned home. “I’m basically off the registry for a year, and I’m call for the patient I donated to if they need any extra stem cells, like a booster. After twelve months, though, I will be back on the registry and could potentially be chosen as a match for another person.” Marty shared.
“It’s not super common to be matched with somebody again. From what I’ve heard, the most I’ve seen someone do it was three times. I hope I get called again. I think that would be amazing. But it’s not super common.”
The entire process was completed anonymously, as well. Marty does not know who her match is. There is a chance she could find out, though. “In the first twelve months, the donor and reaccept can have completely anonymous contact with each other, through like letters or something, if they both agree to it,” Marty excitedly explained, “After the twelve months, if both parties agree, then I can talk to them and meet them. I would defiantly be interested in doing that, but both of us have to agree to it.”
Marty’s selfless donation could save a stranger’s life. But she isn’t the only one who could become a life saving hero. Anyone can join Be The Match.
“Anyone interested should go to the website. You can read all about it there. Be The Match would send a cheek swab to you,” Marty stated, “That’s it. It is just a cheek swab to join. Doctors from all over the country and even other countries can check the registry to see if someone would be a potential match to their patient.”
Be The Match is a program that was built to help fund and facilitate life saving donations of bone marrow, stem cells, and more. The program helps match up non-related donors with patients in desperate need of transplants for potentially deadly diseases. A non-related donor is a complete stranger, but someone that wants to save a life and make a difference. A hero.
Through Be The Match, more than 111,000 blood stem cell transplants were done last year to possible save lives. The program also donates time and resources to developing new therapies and better treatments for patients.
To sign up to become someone’s match and save a life, visit https://bethematch.org.
