Hunt for a Donor

The Oklahoma Blood Institute will be having bone marrow testing programs in McCurtain County over the next two weeks. Registration and testing will take place August 23, in the Robbins Motor Sport parking lot, in Idabel from 9:00am to 2:00pm. Those willing to be tested and registered on the NMDP will need to bring some form of personal ID and contact information for two family members. Caucasian donors are required to pay a tax-deductible testing fee. Other ethnicities will be funded by the NMDP. If your Caucasian, your chance of getting a match is 80 percent, but it drops dramatically if your a minority. To make up for the underrepresented parts of the population, the federal program pays the $52 screening fee for minorities. The actual testing for the donor only involves a simple cheek swab. Over 100,000 Americans a year become afflicted with diseases that can only be treated with a bone marrow transplant. The Oklahoma Blood Institutes is conducting "Hunt for a Donor" in hopes of finding a viable donor for 11-year-old Tallie Anderson and other patients in need of a bone marrow transplant. Tallie was diagnosed with Aplastic Anemia in 2007. In Anderson's case the donor will likely be of Native American descent. Tallie is descendant of the Choctaw Tribe. There are relatively few Native American donors registered with the NDMP, National Marrow Donor Program.

*Tallie's dad is Roger Anderson who is originally from Broken Bow.*