Texas Children’s Hospital patients participate in ‘Be The Match’ Walk from inside hospital
Patients at Texas Children’s Hospital participated in the second annual “Be The Match” walk on the hospital’s Bone Marrow Transplant Unit to drive awareness about Be The Match, the largest and most diverse marrow registry in the world operated by the National Marrow Donor Program. The walk was a precursor to the Be The Match Walk + Run that took place on Sept. 13, raising funds to support patients who need a marrow or umbilical cord blood transplant and helps them find a donor and receive treatment.
Patients on Texas Children’s Bone Marrow Transplant Unit are often immunocompromised and the on-unit walk allows them to participate in a way that is safe as they undergo or are recovering from treatment. Dr. Robert Krance, chief of the Bone Marrow Clinic and director of the Pediatric Stem Cell Transplant Program at Texas Children’s Hospital, kicked off the walk as patients were cheered on by their parents, family members, doctors and nurses.
Every year, thousands of people of all ages are diagnosed with blood cancers like leukemia or lymphoma, sickle cell anemia or other life-threatening diseases. Seventy percent of people do not have a donor in their family and depend on the Be The Match Registry to find a match to save their life.