SA-born professional skateboarder and passionate stem cell donor Jean-Marc Johannes will actively be encouraging youth this month to join the SA Bone Marrow Registry in its ongoing fight to save lives.
Currently, youth between the ages of 16 and 25 only account for 6.8 per cent of registered SABMR donors, which according to Nadia Chalkley, Head of Donor Recruitment for the SABMR, should be at 13 per cent.
“With many of the SABMR donors approaching 60 years and then no longer eligible for donation, we need the younger generation to fill their shoes. So many myths continue to hamper our efforts. While we refer to the procedure as a bone marrow transplant, it’s not actual bone marrow that is needed, but stem cells that are removed from the bloodstream rather than the marrow itself,” said Chalkley.
“There’s also no hassle involved in signing up. It can all be done online within minutes and a swab kit will then be dispatched to the donor’s home. All that is required, is wiping a cotton swab on the inside of your cheek, sealing it and notifying the registry that it is ready for collection.”
She said younger people were preferred donors as they were associated with better survival rates for patients following a stem cell transplant.
“Signing Johannes as the SABMR’s youth ambassador is sure to create increased awareness among youth and will help the registry to chip away at the myths that abound. He is enthusiastic about the cause, and we hope that his passion becomes contagious. We know he is going to be a powerful motivator for youth to get involved and make a difference,” explained Chalkley.
Johannes said the partnership with SABMR was a natural fit.
“This cause is close to my heart as I’ve had to come to terms with and deal with the challenges of having asthma since childhood. Due to the severity of my asthma, I was advised by doctors not to participate in any sport. However, my passion for athletics and realising my dreams put me on a path of recovery and helped me to better manage the condition,” he encouraged.
In October last year, SABMR became the second registry in the world after the UK, to allow 16 and 17 year olds to become stem cell donors. Previously teenagers had to wait until they turned 18 to join the registry.
Chalkley said in addition to Johannes being an ambassador for SABMR, it had launched a volunteer drive called #50Squad aimed at 16 to 35 year olds to become ‘youth ambassadors’, to help drive awareness and recruit peers of various ethnicities in their respective communities.
If you’d like to sign up for the #50Squad programme, you can do so here: https://sabmr.co.za/become-a-volunteer/. The SABMR can be followed on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram @sabonemreg.
