New York Blood Center (NYBC) is hosting a series of blood drives throughout April with Be The Match to find a stem cell match for a Bronx college student diagnosed with aplastic anemia.
Patients are most likely to match with donors who share the same ethnic background. Emil Orlando Temple, 20, of University Heights, is Dominican and Panamanian and requires a Hispanic donor, with odds of finding a match currently standing at 46%. Until he can find a match, Temple depends on blood and platelet transfusions.
At 13, he was diagnosed with a rare cancer called osteosarcoma and received surgery to have it removed. Three years later Temple’s tumor returned and he had to undergo a second surgery.
After his successful recovery, he was able to play high school baseball and football. He is now a junior at the University of Albany, studying communications with a minor in business. However, with his recent diagnosis, he has had to put school on hold to focus on his health.
“We are calling on New Yorkers to donate blood and join the Be The Match registry to potentially make a life-saving stem-cell donation,” said Marcelle Amiot-Priso, director of the Be The Match Program at New York Blood Center. “Emil Orlando Temple is a student, son and friend to many. With a stem cell donation, Emil has an incredible life ahead of him.”
To make an appointment at one of the blood drives, sign up here.
To join the Be the Match registry, you must be between the ages of 18 and 44. If you fit the criteria, cannot make the blood drives and would be interested in making a lifesaving donation, please sign up here or by texting EMIL to 61474.
The blood drives will be hosted on:
- Sunday, April 11, 9:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m.– YMCA Flushing, 138-46 Northern Blvd, Flushing
- Wednesday, April 14, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.– Union Square Community Blood Drive, 27 Union Square West, New York, NY– Room 302
- Thursday, April 15, 1 to 7 p.m. – Shops at Atlas Park, Former Pet Shop, 8000 Cooper Avenue, Glendale
- Friday, April 16, 1 to 7 p.m.– Queens Place Mall, 88-01 Queens Blvd., Elmhurst
- Monday, April 19, 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.– Newburg Armory Unity Center, 321 South Williams Street, Newburgh
- Thursday, April 22, 1 to 7 p.m. – Newport Centre Mall Jersey City , 30 Mall Drive West, 2nd Floor, Jersey City, N.J.
- Friday, April 23, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.– JCC Harlem, 318 West 118th Street, New York, NY
- Saturday, April 24, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.– Riverbay Administrative, 2049 Bartow Avenue, Room 31
- Thursday, April 29, 2 to 6:30 p.m. – City of Long Beach, 650 Magnolia Blvd., Long Beach
