Take a minute to possibly save a life

On Friday, those of us in the Mid-Ohio Valley have the opportunity potentially to save lives ... and it won't hurt even a little.

The Parkersburg News and Sentinel, Pioneer Chevrolet and Family Ford, Memorial Health Systems, Peoples Bank, WMOA, Clear Channel and The Marietta Times are joining forces for the "Be the Match Swab-a-Thon" from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Friday at Pioneer Chevrolet, the Peoples Bank on Putnam Street in Marietta and the Marietta Memorial Hospital Belpre Campus Strecker Cancer Center lobby.

At the event, a swab will be taken of the inside of one's cheek and the subsequent medical information will be placed in the bone marrow match registry to potentially give a lifesaving benefit to those inflicted with 73 different life-threatening blood cancers that can be helped with a bone marrow transplant. More than 10,000 people, several of them from our valley as well as across the nation, are awaiting a match to receive that gift of life.

Donating for bone marrow transplants is not as painful or difficult as it once was. and about 80 percent of the time, donors give stem cells instead of marrow, which is much like donating blood.

Those considering joining the drive must be committed to donating bone marrow. Those who are part of the registry and get a call, are someone's hope to life a normal life.

Lives can be saved, but people must be tested and placed on the registry to accomplish that goal.

It only takes a few minutes and is painless ... leaving no reason for not taking part in the swab-a-thon.