Smith courageously described her diagnosis during an interview with rolling out publisher and CEO Munson Steed. “Upon arriving at the University of Maryland’s cancer center, I met with my current oncologist who’s fabulous, Dr. Sandrine Niyongere. She’s a Black female oncologist, and I can’t say enough wonderful things about her. She told me that I had myelodysplastic syndrome in combination with bone marrow failure. What that means for me is that the lifesaving curative treatment that I received 10 years prior for my initial cancer was actually starting to kill me now.
“What they’re finding is that patients under the age of 25 who received over 100 m curie radiation, are developing [other] cancers later in life. So, now I am in another cancer battle. I’ve been searching the Be The Match Registry® for over a year and a half, with no stem cell donor match, so it has been a trying time, to say the least. It’s really difficult for anyone who goes through things like this, but particularly for Black and Brown individuals.”
What makes Smith’s case so challenging is that far too few Black and Brown people are represented on the Be The Match Registry. Currently, only 4% of persons on the North American donor registry are Black. That gives Black patients only a 23% chance of finding a match on the registry, while their White counterparts are matched at a rate of 77%.
But there is hope if more people become a part of the national Be The Match Registry. A simple gesture — swabbing the inside of your cheek and mailing in the swab — tremendously increases the chances of Smith and thousands like her to find a lifesaving match.
Smith remains upbeat and hopeful. “It’s very tough, but it’s not hopeless,” she insists. “That’s why we encourage people to join the Be The Match Registry.”
To find out how you can join the Be The Match Registry, visit BeTheMatchAtl.org or text HEALTHIQ21 to 61474.
In the video below, Smith puts out a call to action to individuals in Black and Brown communities, asking for help to save her life and the lives of many others.
