Dec 23, 2023 By Karen Mansfield 5 min read

Like many college students, Washington & Jefferson College senior Erin Burns spent much of early December studying for finals.

But the accounting major added one more activity to her to-do list: potentially save a stranger’s life.

Burns, 21, traveled to New York City earlier this month to donate blood stem cells to a 65-year-old woman suffering from Myelodysplastic Syndrome.

During a campus event months before, Burns had registered with Be the Match, a national organization that finds healthy matches for patients with leukemia, lymphoma, sickle cell anemia and other blood disorders who are in need of a bone marrow transplant.

“I was going to lunch, and representatives from (Be the Match) had a table set up and asked if anyone wanted to do a cheek swab to be added to the (National Marrow Donor Program) registry. It takes five seconds, so I thought, why not?” said Burns. “About a year later, they texted me and said I was a match for somebody and wanted me to call them.”

She didn’t hesitate.

Burns spent several weeks preparing to donate blood stem cells. She underwent a physical exam, several rounds of blood testing and vein testing.

Leading up to the day of the procedure, for five days, Burns received a round of shots to boost her stem cell production ahead of the transfusion.

At the Be the Match collection center in New York City, Burns donated her stem cells through a non-surgical procedure called peripheral bloodstream donation process (PBDC), or apheresis, where blood is removed through a needle in one arm and passed through a machine that collects the blood-forming cells. The remaining blood is returned through a needle in the other arm.

The process is similar to what is used when donating blood platelets.

“Overall, it was a simple procedure,” said Burns. “It took a little longer for me, I was there for nine hours, and I was getting a cold and was a little achy afterwards, but It didn’t take anything away from me to do it.”

An update on Burns’s recipient won’t be available until at least 30 days from when the blood stem cell transplant took place, but day 100 is a milestone because that’s when the greatest risk for critical side effects is past and when the stem cells have engrafted and begun making new blood cells.

One fun fact Burns learned is that the recipient’s blood type will change to her blood type after the transplant.

Erica Sevilla, public relations manager of Be the Match, said stem cells and stem cell donors are in high demand.

And donors between ages 18 and 35 are most sought-after.

“The younger the donor, the better chance of surviving for the patient. That’s why we recruit primarily on college campuses,” said Sevilla. “It’s great what Erin did. It’s amazing when we have a college student who’s going from finals and then donating. It’s remarkable what she did.”

Registrations from the Be the Match On Campus program have a 1 in 119 chance of going on to donate.

There are 9 million potential donors on the donor registry in the United States, and 41 million potential donors registered worldwide. In 2022, Be the Match facilitated more than 7,000 transplants, Sevilla said.

Since 1987, Be the Match has facilitated more than 120,000 transplants.

Matching with a family member only happens about 30% of the time, most often with a brother or a sister (since children inherit half their genes from each parent, a mother or father can only be a 50% match).

The 70% of patients who don’t have a match with a family member must rely on the kindness of strangers who donate their stem cells.

There also is a need for non-white donors, Sevilla said, since a successful stem cell match typically comes from a donor with the same ethnic background.

For white patients, the odds of finding a donor on the registry are nearly 80%. But for Black patients, the odds are as low as 30%.

For example, 8-year-old Jax Ramirez, who has IPEX, a rare autoimmune disease affecting just one in 1.6 million people, has been waiting for a bone marrow match since October 2021. His mother, Missy Ramirez, has held more than 200 events in the past two years to find a donor.

“There is a need for diversity on the registry. There are fewer Asian, Hispanic, and Black potential donors registered,” Sevilla said.

For Burns, having the opportunity to be someone’s match for a transplant – and their only hope for a cure – was impactful.

“Honestly, I would do it again. There were things I had to juggle with school, and some discomfort that came with the shots, but I would do it again. They don’t tell you much about the recipient, other than their age and gender, but that’s OK. I would encourage other people to do it. Adding yourself to the registry doesn’t take any time, and it makes a difference.”

Note: If you are interested in joining the registry, please visit bethematch.com, and the organization will mail you a free cheek swab kit.