North Vancouver RCMP call for stem cell donors to save one of their own

Mounties in North Vancouver, B.C., are asking the public for help to save the life of one of their colleagues.

Nancy Taylor,a city employee and auxiliary member ofthe force,was diagnosed last November with acute lymphoblastic leukemia afast-spreading cancer of the blood and bone marrow.

Taylor said doctors have told herthediseasecan be treatedwith astem cell transplant, butunfortunately none of her family members are a matchandnothing in theCanadian Blood Services'OneMatchstem cell banksis suitable.

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"It's been difficult because I have aDutch-Indonesianbackground," she said."OneMatchwas saying about 70 per cent of their donors are Caucasian."

She said doctors can keep her in remission by continuing her chemotherapy treatment but onlyfor another year or two.

Stem cell drive

North Vancouver RCMP held a stem cell drive on Thursday, asking people to step up and get tested to see if they could be a match.

"Much of police work is doing the right thing, at the right time, for the right reasons, to,at times, potentially savesomeone's life," saidCpl. Richard DeJong.

Taylor said she hopes more people will donate to Canadian Blood Services to save lives not just her own.

"If they could donate, that would be great. Because they could save a life, just donating their blood or their bone marrow," she said.

"There are so many people out there waiting for a donor."

How to donate stem cells

Canadian Blood Services saysa stem cell is an immature cell that can become different types of blood cells.

Stem cell donors must be between 17and 35 years old, and meet health criteria that include being free of cancer, heart conditions, orblood diseases.

Potential donors would sign up withOneMatchand fill out aquestionnaire. If they're selected, they'll be sent a mouth swab kit to returnto CBS.

If the potential donor is a match, additional testing for diseases will be conducted.

After that process, there are two extraction methods:

• Stimulatedperipheral blood stem cell donation.Donors are injected for four to five days with a drug to stimulate stem cell production. The cells are then received through injection

• Bone marrow stem cell donation
  Donors are put under generalanaesthetic and stem cells are withdrawn from bone marrow in their pelvis by way of a surgical procedure