Ali Alsamarah is the name of the doctor who, upon learning that he was compatible and that he was capable of undergoing surgery, decided to donate his own bone marrow to save the life of a child from Tampa Bay (Florida, USA), who did not have the revealed age. Specializing in interventional cardiology and working at Advent Health Ocala American Health Center, he hopes his story encourages others to sign up for the donor registry and consider donating.
To “AdventHealth News”, the doctor said he became a donor three years ago, after seeing a friend survive acute myeloid leukemia due to a bone marrow transplant. He underwent a series of tests to find out if he was fit to do the good deed. The case occurred in April, but was only recently reported.
“I hope this message reaches people so they know about the bone marrow donation program, as it will enrich the pool with more donors and, therefore, more potential matches for those in need,” said the cardiologist. “The procedure is crucial to raising awareness and educating people about the life-saving therapy,” he added.
In Brazil, to be a bone marrow donor, you must be between 18 and 35 years of age (the donor remains on the registry until 60 years of age and can donate up to this age), have an official identification document with a photo, be in good general health and not having any disease that prevents registration and bone marrow donation.
If the potential donor meets the requirements above, they must go to the nearest blood center, register in the National Registry of Voluntary Bone Marrow Donors (Redome), a national system that is coordinated by the Unified Health System (SUS), and collect a blood sample (10 ml) for HLA typing. This data will be included in Redome and, if compatibility with a patient is identified, the donor will be contacted to carry out further tests.
