For the week of March 19 - 25, 2003

Bone marrow drive attracts 111 donors

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By DANA DUGAN
Express Staff Writer

Smith Sport Optics in Ketchum had an especially busy afternoon last Wednesday.

Sunglasses were not involved.

Instead, 111 people participated in a national bone marrow stem cell drive in honor of valley resident Ken Frederick.

An executive with Smith, Frederick is suffering from acute myelogenous leukemia, for which he may need a stem cell transplant.

According to Robyn Marrelli, one of the organizers of the drive, "Mark Allen, the Mountain States Tumor Center donor coordinator, felt we’d be lucky to get 30 to 40 people. I asked him to bring as many kits as possible, and we’d find a way to fund the tests."

The donor center had initially committed 40 test kits, which cost $65 each.

The drive began at 3 p.m. and a mere two hours later they had completed 80 tests. Smith President Ned Post and CFO Ron Hayes said, "keep going and we’ll find a way to pay."

"There was no way we were going to turn willing donors away." Marrelli said. "It reaffirmed my love of this valley."

Marrelli, who moved to the valley five years ago was astounded by the response. "I’m still in a city mode. People don’t show up for strangers like this."

Each test involved filling out forms, receiving a quick OK by the donor center physician and then pricked in one finger. Blood was then dripped or blotched onto five separate spaces on a single test card. Two nurses, one from St. Luke’s Wood River Medical Center and one from St. Alphonsus Hospital in Boise, took the blood. People with very cold hands had a harder time keeping the blood flowing before it clotted.

Socializing and warming hands were the activities as the line ran from near Post’s office out into the landing of the second floor of their headquarters. Marrelli, Post’s executive assistant, kept a steady supply of grapes, salami, cheese, cookies and drinks for the potential donors.

It takes four to six weeks for the tests to be run and be entered into the national registry.

There is a Ken Frederick Fund at Bank of America to raise money to help Smith pay for the additional $4,148 for the test kits, as well as for expenses incurred during the course of Frederick’s treatment.

Steve Pruitt (726-3583) and Peggy Lupton (788-9594) are the trustees of this account.

 

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