Volunteering with AADP greatly benefits patients in need of a match. In turn, working with patients touches the lives of volunteers. To highlight this, we are starting a series of volunteer stories, Vision of A Volunteer, where our hardworking helpers have a chance to share how volunteering with AADP has impacted them.
Scott & Kkomi:
Why and how I got involved with the AADP: While recovering from a kidney transplant (after waiting 8-1/2 years on the donor list) I wanted to thank the family of my life-saving organ donor, but they wanted to remain anonymous. So, I was thinking about giving back in some way to honor my anonymous organ donor. Around August 2012, I saw a news story on television about a 2-year-old boy, Jeremy Kong, who desperately needed a bone marrow transplant from an Asian person to survive. The story stated that Jeremy had about 6 months to find a match, or he wouldn’t survive. Needless to say, I was very sad for Jeremy and his parents; it didn’t seem fair to me, for this little boy to have ONLY 6 months to find a match, or die. The main thing that perplexed me was why wouldn’t anyone come forward to save this little boy, and why is it so difficult to find this little boy a match?
I immediately visited the website, AADP.org, in the news story to learn about Jeremy’s situation and how I could help. I thought this would be a great way to give back, but more importantly I really wanted to help save Jeremy. I contacted AADP to volunteer at a drive, and I continue to volunteer to this day, as there is a dire need for more people of Asian descent to register to be a donor.
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