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photo by steed media service
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Director, Link to Life Network Inc.
Over the course of 15 years, Trinidad native Michael Andrews has been
fighting the good fight. He believes that people deserve a second
chance at life, particularly when their health fails them. As director
of Link to Life Network Inc., which is based in New York City, he jumps
at every call to recruit donors and volunteers to give the gift of
life.
“Our goal is to enroll minorities in the registry [National Marrow
Donor Program (NMDP)], to save the lives of people with leukemia and
other blood diseases,” he shares. The process is simple. Potential
donors fill out a consent form that is screened by a volunteer. Said
donor then provides a tissue sample that is taken from a swab of the
cheek cells. You’re only called when you match someone who is sick.
Then, you’re given a complete physical and might be asked to donate
stem cells or bone marrow.”
A former phlebotomist and EMT, Andrews is passionate about his role as
the head of Link to Life Network Inc. and didn’t allow a recent heat
wave to deter his recruitment efforts as he canvassed the crowd outside
of the Adam Clayton Powell Jr. State Office Building during the Harlem
Summer Stage concert soliciting donors.
The NMDP lists more than 6.2 million donors and almost half of them are
white. Studies show that bone marrow recipients need to receive marrow
from donors whose tissue typing closely matches theirs; this is usually
inherited, like from a sibling. But if their sibling isn’t suitable,
the registry is searched for a close match, which is usually someone
from the same ethnic group. If the sample of marrow from an ethnic
group is small, then so are the chances of finding a match. – yvette caslin
