Nelly Gets More Than 1200 New Bone Marrow Donors To Register
Yahoo! Music, Jun 24, 2003 4:00 pm PDT(6/24/03, 4 p.m. ET) v-- Nelly and his 30-year-old sister, Jacqueline "Jackie" Donahue, who is in immediate need of a bone marrow transplant, were on hand Saturday (June 21) for their Jes Us 4 Jackie nation-wide donor drive for patients in need of bone marrow transplants. They've signed up more than 1200 people in St. Louis and Los Angeles with the National Marrow Donor Program Registry.
A large percentage of those present was African American. According to the National Bone Marrow Registry, this was the most successful African American bone marrow registry drive in history.
Nelly's 4 Sho 4 Kids Foundation sponsored the cost of the tests required to join the registry as well as the educational materials for all potential donors.
Nelly and another sister, Ashley Donahue, also joined the registry. They won't learn for a couple of weeks if a match was found for Jackie who is presently undergoing chemotherapy.
Jackie Donahue was overwhelmed by the level of support. "It's great," Donahue says. "It's wonderful. I'm speechless. The reality of the numbers of people that came out to show their support was amazing...To have other kids and families suffering from life-threatening disease that could be saved by a marrow transplant come up and thank me was extremely touching and even more inspiring. I have to keep raising awareness and motivate more people to join the registry."
Jackie was initially diagnosed with leukemia in 2001, but the disease went into remission for two years before she experienced a relapse in January of 2003. Her doctors informed her at the time she would need a bone marrow transplant.
Nelly says in a statement that he's committed to the effort even if a donor is found for Jackie. "If we did that would be terrific, if we didn't, hopefully we may have helped others and we will continue to search to find one for Jackie," says Nelly. "This is bigger than just us; it's about getting more people on the registry."
The next Jes Us 4 Jackie drive is tentatively scheduled for July 26 in New York City, with dates in New Orleans, Detroit, and Houston to follow.
For more information or to make a monetary contribution, please visit jesus4jackie.com or marrow.org.
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