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Passover 'miracle' motivates bar mitzvah project
(by Sue Hoffman - March 24, 2010)
Passover 'miracle' motivates bar mitzvah project
By SUE HOFFMAN
Rus Don, of Solon, always will remember with gratitude when a stranger saved his life during Passover 2008.
Mr. Don had been diagnosed with myelodysplastic syndrome, a form of leukemia, in November 2007, and was seriously ill when he entered Cleveland Clinic the following April.
"I was told I needed to have a bone marrow transplant to survive," he said. Mr. Don said he was given chemotherapy to rid his body of immunities to prepare for a transplant.
Unfortunately, neither of his sisters had qualified as a match for his bone marrow in testing that was done soon after his diagnosis. Only one in 5 million people who had registered with bone marrow matching services qualify.
That person was Dr. Harry Ramras, a dentist in Woodmere, Long Island, who had been tested seven years prior to that time for the Gift of Life donor registry for the Jewish community. He and about 20 members of his Orthodox congregation were tested when a fellow congregant needed a bone marrow transplant.
Dr. Ramras remembers the procedure well. During a full day in the hospital, a machine took his blood and filtered it to remove stem cells, he said. "The blood goes through the machine three times." A plane was waiting to take his stem cells to Cleveland for Mr. Don's transplant as soon as the procedure was over.
"I don't think it's a big deal," Dr. Ramras said. "Now I think about how Rus is doing well and I'm happy. You have the capacity to do something no one in the world can do. You realize how lucky you are. It makes me appreciate life and be thankful for what I have."
Mr. Don, his wife and their family also are counting their blessings, they said. As a way to pay it forward, their son, Jacob, 13, has set up a registry day for Be the Match donor service. People between the ages of 18 and 60 who meet health guidelines can sign up and go through a quick test from 9 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. April 11 at Fairmount Temple Anshe Chesed, 23737 Fairmount Blvd. in Beachwood.
Cost for the swab is a donation of $25 per person. For those who cannot pay but wish to register, Jacob has offered to cover the costs.
Jacob, a seventh-grader at Solon Middle School, said he and his parents and brothers Henry, 11, and Reuben, 15, were discussing possible mitzvah projects for his bar mitzvah next month. They all decided the bone marrow registry drive was perfect.
Jacob has been circulating a flier in which he describes the importance of the registry for his father. "Nowadays, bone marrow donations are much simpler and easier to perform. Instead of taking marrow from the hip, you can now get it from stem cells, which is almost as simple as taking blood."
The test performed on April 11 "is only a cheek swab test," he said.
"Individuals are handed two swabs to go around the gums," Mrs. Don said. "It takes 10 minutes max." She said blood work does not have to be done until a donor is selected to help someone needing a transplant.
This is a first marrow registry drive at Fairmount Temple, where they are members, Mrs. Don said.
To help get out the word, Jacob has been sending e-mails to people he knows as well as some of the Cleveland Cavaliers.
The family also is producing an online video to promote the cause. The video, featuring Dr. Ramras being interviewed by a puppet named "Lolly," was produced on a volunteer basis by Leslie Carrara, of Muppets and Sesame Street fame.
In the video, Dr. Ramras tells Lolly, "I was a bone marrow donor and I had a chance to save someone's life. It's very easy to give," he said. The video, entitled "When Harry Met Lolly: The Story of a Bone Marrow Hero," has been prepared for access through You Tube.
Mr. Don, whose blood levels are now normal, was allowed to get in touch with Dr. Ramras a year after the transplant. Although they haven't met in person, they are friends who converse by telephone frequently.
"In our mind, he's god-like," Mrs. Don said about Dr. Ramras. She said she knew with his being an Orthodox Jew, it was not easy to be a donor at Passover.
Dr. Ramras said the main problem was that he had to get shots a few days before the blood work to build up his stem cells. He was very sore, but he had to go with his parents in New Jersey to the synagogue for the holiday. He said he didn't want them to worry about him, so he walked the best he could.
Mr. Don said he never talks or thinks about the chemotherapy he went through to fight the disease. "I always think, 'Isn't it amazing there was someone who did this for me? It's a miracle."
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