Join the ‘squad’ of saving lives
With Fourie's Ballito and Durban North drives alone, 513 new registrations were recorded and several people were encouraged to sign up online.
THE South African Bone Marrow Registry (SABMR) is looking for people to volunteer their time and skills to recruit donors onto their registry.
SABMR was established in 1991 following concerns that although bone-marrow transplants were a life-saving treatment option, they were only available to patients with a matching donor in their family.
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Through various campaigns and fundraising over the years, the organisation has managed to find suitable donors for those patients in critical need of a transplant without any related donor.
One of the campaigns that SABMR is currently running is the #50 SQUAD Volunteer Initiative where everyday people who want to make a difference in the life of others are asked to recruit 50 volunteers using a medium they are familiar with. The campaign runs annually from May to December.
North Durban resident Shan Fourie, who is also a full-time lifestyle blogger and content creator, learnt about SABMR a few years ago by a friend whose daughter had leukaemia. She then became a #50 SQUAD recruiter and is now a permanent ambassador for SABMR.
“Mackenzie, who has since become well-known as Mighty Mack, was diagnosed with leukaemia at four months old. I had signed up as a bone-marrow donor years before this, but Mack’s journey inspired me to do what I could with the platform I have to encourage as many people as possible to sign up. The fact that so few people are signed up on the registry is something I can never quite wrap my head around, when it truly could not be simpler to save lives. I went on to generate awareness about the alarming stats and the need for donors and put together drives to encourage people to come through and make a difference around KZN,” said Fourie.
She joined the #50 SQUAD campaign in May 2021 and decided that she wanted to encourage people all over South Africa to sign up by showing them the dire need there is for bone marrow donors.
“I also showed them how simple it was to sign up and educated them on the harvesting process which is not as painful or daunting as people believe it to be,” she added.
Fourie said her experience as an ambassador added purpose to her life.
“I believe that we all have the ability to change the world around us, and it is completely up to us how we decide to do so.
“I have always felt incredibly supported by the SABMR team who go above and beyond to assist with volunteers, merchandise and training leading up to any drives,” she said.
Her campaign for recruiting volunteers included talks about SABMR as an organisation and to share her knowledge on setting up stem-cell drives on her website, as well as hosting or assisting with four blood and bone-marrow drives across the province.
“I’ve also written a blog to share my knowledge on setting up bone-marrow drives on my website and I’ve set up and assisted in setting up four blood and bone-marrow drives across the province,” she said.
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“I encourage everyone to join the #50 SQUAD campaign. Being part of the SABMR volunteer base gives one the feeling of being of service to our community. Being a volunteer allows you the possibility of encouraging people to sign up. I do not think there is any greater gift to give to humanity than to be able to save someone’s life, purely with what is already in your possession – some of your cells,” she added.
Kapil Premchand, the sustainability and donor recruitment coordinator for KwaZulu-Natal said many hands make for light work and urged more people to register as donors.
“We urge as many individuals as possible to join us we put our best foot forward in attempt to grow the registry to cover future victims diagnosed with life-threatening forms of blood cancer,” said Premchand.
“The registry currently consists of 1% of the population of South Africa as registered donors. There is a desperate need to recruit more donors and in more demographics to meet the ever-growing demand for eligible donors.
Should you wish to get involved or sign up as a stem-cell donor, then email SABMR at donors@sabmr.co.za or contact the team on 021 447 8638. You can be part of someone’s tomorrow.
About #50 Squad Volunteer Initiative
Applicants must:
Be between the ages of 16 and 35
Be willing to sign up as a bone marrow donor
Actively recruit new donors in the specified area of residence
Be willing to complete the prescribed online training
Agree to visibility in all SAMBR media platforms
Meet the specified target for recruiting 50 committed donors during this period (until December 2023)
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