(MENAFN- Khaleej Times) A potential match from a bone marrow donor can help save the life of a young Dubai resident battling a rare form of blood cancer in the US.
Family and friends of 38-year-old Indian Nimesh Joshi are launching a drive this weekend in Dubai to collect as many bone marrow matches as possible.
Donors at this stage will be required to undergo a 30-second-long painless cheek swab.
The swabs containing DNA cells will then be shipped to the US where doctors will test for a match.
Nimesh has 30 days to find a match before he can undergo another round of chemotherapy.
"This is a crucial time for us," said Vicky Bageria, Nimesh's best friend who is organising the drive. "We are totally distraught."
A resident of Dubai, Nimesh was undergoing treatment for an enlarged spleen in a Mumbai hospital in November 2012 when he was diagnosed with 'Hepatosplenic T-Cell Lymphoma', a rare form of blood cancer. Nimesh, a hale and hearty father of a seven-year-old, was devastated when he was told he had to undergo aggressive chemotherapy and a bone marrow transplant to kill the cancer.
"I want to continue to be a father to my son," says Nimesh on a flyer specially printed for the drive.
He has already undergone two chemo sessions at the City of Hope medical centre in Los Angeles.
"The treatments are very expensive and we hope that the transplant can save his life," said Vicky.
His only sibling, parents and relatives are not a match.
Gender and blood groups are not relevant while donating bone marrow.
Since marrow is inherited genetically, Nimesh's best chance of finding a match is from the same ethnic group, i.e. a person of a South Asian descent.
The Emirates Bone Marrow Donor Registry located at Sharjah Blood Transfusion Centre does not have a match for Nimesh.
"We could have done the blood testing in Dubai but it is too expensive," said Vicky.
"Latifa Hospital charges Dh2,500 per test and we are looking at thousands of tests here," he added.
Once a match is found, healthy cells can either be harvested from the hip bone of the donor or simply through a blood donation.
Volunteers will have to pay Dh180 for the testing kit but in case payments can't be made, the family will bear the cost or seek sponsorship. The cheek swabs will be carried out by a representative from an Indian NGO, Datri, that helps organise such drives and is creating a database of potential donors.
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