Cheeky Airmen take on cancer

  • Published
  • By Master Sgt. Jeff Walston
  • 913th Airlift Group
Little Rock AFB, Ark. --  Three Airmen from the 913th Airlift Group volunteered to register with the C. W. Bill Young Department of Defense Marrow Donor Program in the Base Exchange here, June 7.

Airman 1st Class Carlie Creech, 913th Aerospace Medical Squadron, Tech. Sgt. Debra Gentry, 96th Aerial Port Squadron and Capt Casey Staheli, 913th Airlift Group, joined others on base during the bone marrow donor recruitment drive coordinated by the 19th Security Forces Squadron and Rising 6 organization on base.

The drive gave members an opportunity to join the fight against blood cancer by becoming potential bone marrow donors.

The process involved participants swabbing skin cells from the inside of their cheek. The samples were packaged and sent to the DoD Marrow Program on behalf of each member.

The recruitment drive will benefit the exclusive facilitator of marrow and stem cell donations by military personnel and their dependents, DoD civilian employees, Reservists, and Coast Guard and National Guard members.

Each year, more than 12,000 people are diagnosed with diseases such as leukemia or lymphoma that require an infusion of stem cells. While some individuals are able to find an appropriate match within their family, more than 70 percent of patients require an unrelated donor.

The C. W. Bill Young DoD Marrow Program has recruited more than 800,000 individuals in the fight against blood cancer since its inception in 1991.

“It’s easy and painless, and it’s the right thing to do,” said U.S. Air Force Reserve Tech. Sgt. Debra Gentry, NCOIC, commander support, 96th Aerial Port Squadron, 913th Airlift Group, who lost a sister to bone cancer.