Angel Chittaphong is like most typical 7-year-old girls. She loves the color pink, dressing up and playing princess.
Unlike most girls her age, however, Angel was born with alpha thalassemia, a rare blood disorder associated with anemia that requires her to undergo blood transfusions every month.
In 2003, Angel received a stem cell transplant with the hopes of curing her disease. Unfortunately, the procedure was unsuccessful, and Angel is in need of a bone marrow transplant. Angel has been unable to find a donor from within her family, so she and her parents have looked to the National Marrow Donor Program to find a donor.
To help Angel and others like her in need of a bone marrow transplant, this year's Marrowthon, a blood and bone marrow drive, will be held Wednesday and Thursday.
Cam Chittaphong, Angel's mother, said the family has been searching for a match for Angel for quite a while.
"We tested everyone in the family ... but no one's marrow matches enough for a transplant. We are looking for someone with an 80-85 percent match," Chittaphong said. "We are reaching out to everyone now to see if we can find someone who is a match."
Chittaphong said finding a donor will save Angel's life.
"A transplant would cure Angel's disease. That means that she can live a normal life, without having to get the monthly blood transfusions she does now, also she takes daily medication ... so finding a donor would make her day-to-day life better," she said.
Marrowthon is both a blood and a bone marrow drive. There will be free food, giveaways, Derby Days points and a grand prize drawing for an X-box 360.
Students interested in signing up for the registry will need to fill out some paperwork and a give cheek swab that will be typed and tested. Once entered into the National Marrow Donor Program, the student may be called within days, months, years or never called at all with a match.
Marrowthon co-chairs and seniors Amos Clark and Rebecca Kastan said they want to encourage as many students as possible for sign up for the registry, especially since the process takes only a few minutes.
"We get DNA from a mouth swab, there are no needles, and it is painless, easy," Amos said.
Kastan registered as a donor at a previous Marrowthon and several months later found she was match for a young man in Australia. She said it was one of the best things she has done at Vanderbilt.
"I got a call about a year and a half ago that I was a match for a boy with acute lymphatic leukemia, and I had the opportunity to save his life," Kastan said. "Signing up for the registry makes you a lifelong member of a hero list for a lot of people. It gives you the opportunity to save a life."
Chittaphong said she hopes many students will sign up for the bone marrow registry.
"We would appreciate everyone coming out, not just to help Angel, but everyone else who is waiting with a life-threatening disease, so just please come on out, and get into the registry, so you can save someone's life. Also if you donate blood, I know there is a shortage with the Red Cross, and you can help not only us, but also the whole community," Chittaphong said.
Marrowthon 2009 will be held in Sarratt Student Center Room 220 on Tuesday from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. and Wednesday from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m.
