As President of the Concordia University Emergency Medical Team in Montreal, Quebec, 24-year-old Stephanie was looking for a way to spread awareness about blood cancers, genetic diseases and the importance of bone marrow donation. She had already joined Gift of Life’s registry as a volunteer donor and later learned she was a potential match for a man in need of a transplant. Though she was disappointed when she was not asked to proceed with the transplant, the experience left her wanting to do more.
Whether it was by coincidence, chance, or luck, Stephanie learned about a little girl named Jayden through an article that popped up on her Facebook feed. Four year old Jayden has Myelodysplastic Syndrome, a type of pre-leukemia. Sadly, neither of Jayden’s two brothers or other family members are a close enough match to donate to her, which led the family to search for an unrelated donor.
Stephanie immediately contacted Jayden’s family to ask if she could run a donor recruitment drive on her behalf, and the campaign took off from there. With the help of friends, family and the Concordia Medical Team, the drive was scheduled in three separate locations in Montreal over the course of two days. Stephanie was surprised by the outpouring of support from the community, saying, “It was an incredible feeling. We had close to 2,500 people come out to get swabbed and raised over $10,000. I was very humbled by the experience. It was amazing how we moved an entire city to help.” She added, “Jayden’s family was blown away by the response. They were shocked by how many people came out to support a little girl who they did not even know.”
The response was so shocking, Stephanie feared that they might have to turn potential donors away on the second day of the drive if they ran out of testing supplies. Instead, the Gift of Life recruitment staff in Boca Raton, Florida scrambled to send additional testing kits to Montreal on very short notice. Recruitment Coordinator, Shayne Pilpel explained, “We initially sent them around 2,000 kits, but after such a huge turnout on the first day, I met up with other Gift of Life staff members at the office at around 11:00 p.m. to pack up more kits. The boxes were driven to North Miami, where they boarded a private jet bound for Montreal.” The flight was donated by a member of Montreal’s Jewish community.
Crowns were handed out during the drives, Stephanie explained, “we had them to support her, because of her love of princesses.” Stephanie credits local media for helping to spread the word about Jayden and the drives and believes the campaign was so successful because, “Unlike many other forms of cancer, people felt as though they actually had the potential to help. It was as easy as a few seconds of swabbing a cheek to possibly save a life.”
Volunteers have already been contacted as potential donors for other patients in need. Stephanie described this as, “Amazing! I find it incredibly humbling that this drive has already had an impact. I hope the drive yields many more matches.” Stephanie plans to continue supporting Gift of Life, explaining, “I loved organizing this drive. It was rewarding to know that I could lead so many people from various backgrounds.”