To help a Columbus Academy third-grader – a vibrant, active and previously healthy 8-year-old girl named Kaia who has been diagnosed with severe aplastic anemia, a rare and life-threatening condition in which her bone marrow has suddenly stopped producing blood cells – find a stem cell donor match, our school is hosting a free screening event from 5:00-8:00 p.m. on Wednesday, May 28.
This initial screening, which is just a simple cheek swab conducted by our school nurses to determine if you are a match for Kaia or a patient like her, will take place on Columbus Academy's campus (4300 Cherry Bottom Rd., Gahanna, OH 43230) where you will simply drive through and follow the signs to where volunteers will direct you to stop so one of our nurses can approach your car window to do the check-in and cheek swab.
The best match for Kaia is likely someone of Indian and/or Korean descent, but all who are 18-40 years old are encouraged to register (the National Marrow Donor Program accepts donor applicants from only that age range). If you are selected as a match, 90% of the time you will be asked for a simple blood donation.
If you are unable to attend our on-campus screening on May 28, please consider requesting a free cheek swab kit be mailed to you by visiting https://my.bethematch.org/TeamKaia or texting TeamKaia to 61474.
If you have any questions, contact our school nurses by emailing nurse@columbusacademy.org.
Thank you for supporting this wonderful Academy family, and please feel free to share this widely!