On Monday, Nov. 6, area residents have an opportunity to give the biggest gift of them all: Life.
St. Joseph Church, located at 715 N. Lapeer Rd., will hold a bone marrow drive from 2 p.m. to 8 p.m.
It will be the first drive held at the church since November of 2003.
That drive added hundreds to the registry and event organizer Mary DeWitt Hesson is hoping for similar, if not better, returns this time around.
‘The only requirement is that you must be between the ages of 18 and 60,? DeWitt Hesson said.
‘And be willing to donate for anyone,? she quickly added. ‘Because you never know who that someone is going to be.?
For DeWitt Hesson, who participated in the 2003 drive at St. Joe’s that ‘someone? was folk singer Mary Travers, from the group Peter, Paul and Mary.
The two Marys finally met this summer at a Peter, Paul and Mary performance outside of Chicago, an experience that DeWitt Hesson said was extremely rewarding.
She went on stage in front of 14,000 people to a rousing ovation.
‘I had no idea there were going to be that many people there,? said DeWitt Hesson, who spoke to the crowd on the importance of becoming a donor – but admitted she remembers very little from her speech due to nervousness.
DeWitt Hesson said the process of becoming a donor is much less strenuous in today’s advanced medical field than many assume it to be.
The old method of drilling into one’s hip bone is a thing of the past and has been replaced by a much less invasive procedure.
But before possible donors get to that stage, they must first get on the registry by attending drives such as the one upcoming at St. Joseph.
A simple blood draw is all it takes to add someone to the registry, and could lead to an unforeseen chain of events like what DeWitt Hesson experienced.
DeWitt Hesson added that anyone with a history of cancer is also unable to register.
She encourages those interested to visit www.marrow.org for a full overview of the process
For more information on the drive itself, contact Mary DeWitt Hesson at 693-3990.