Bone Marrow Registration Drive for Alexandria Boy, 11, Scheduled in Alexandria

ALEXANDRIA, VA -- Eleven year-old Alexandria resident Jack Creedon has a rare form of leukemia and is in need of a bone marrow transplant. He has not found a match within his family.

Jack’s parents say it has been tough to find a match because he was adopted from a Russian orphanage, they recently told WUSA-9. So his own family members are not genetically compatible. His biological parents, who are Eastern Europeans, are underrepresented in the international bone marrow registry.

On Sunday, Sept. 11, Good Shepherd Lutheran Church will hold a drive to register potential donors on the national registry, in hopes of helping Jack and the thousands of other blood cancer patients worldwide searching for donors.

Organizers are looking for potential donors between the ages of 18 and 44. A simple swab of the inside of your cheek will register you as a potential donor of life-saving bone marrow.

• Where: Good Shepherd Lutheran Church, 100 W. Luray Ave., Alexandria
• When: Sunday, Sept. 11, 10 a.m. - 2 p.m.

Contact Amy Hadley at amyhadley@comcast.net with questions about this event. For more information on the donation process, go to bethematch.org.

Read more about bone marrow transplants from the U.S. National Library of Medicine.

PHOTO: Jack Creeden photo courtesy of family

Location of bone marrow registration drive: