Help Us Save Juwan

Juwan Adams lives in Abington, PA, just north of Philadelphia. He is a Senior at Abington High School where he is a Drumline Captain, a National Honor Society scholar, and he holds a 4.25 GPA.

In his spare time, Juwan volunteers with pediatric cancer patients.

For the past 4 years, he has also been battling Hodgkin’s Lymphoma. Juwan urgently needs a stem cell transplant to survive.

The Cure

The only cure for Juwan is to find a matching stem cell donor. His family has been tested and his doctors have been searching the Be The Match registry.

But there is still no match for Juwan…and his time is running out.

The Challenge

The challenge is finding a donor with a similar ethnic background. The chances of a Black blood cancer patient like Juwan finding a match is only 23%. White patients have a 77% chance of finding a matching donor.

There simply aren’t enough African Americans included on the registry.

Not yet anyway.

The Search

His friends, his family, and even his high school have been holding marrow drives, asking people to join the registry. He has received support from Penn State and the University of Pennsylvania. Even the Philadelphia Sixers’ Matisse Thybulle has been showing his support and calling on fans to register in case they are a match for Juwan.

But there is still no match.

Could it be you?

Please join the registry on behalf of Juwan. If you aren’t a match for him, you may match another patient. 14,000 patients are searching for their life-saving donor every year. Click the link below and you will be asked to set up an account online. Be The Match will mail you a kit to swab the inside of your cheek. Once you return the kit, you will be included on the registry.

If you match a patent in need, you will receive a call asking you to donate your cells and they will walk you through the process.

Donating

80% of transplants use the PBSC method, which is similar to donating plasma. In the time between breakfast and lunch, you may be able to save someone’s life by donating your stem cells.

It doesn’t cost anything and they don’t even use your insurance. Be The Match will take care of everything.

Please join today. Join for Juwan.

join the registry

Help us spread the word. Share Juwan’s story so we can increase the ethnic makeup of the donor registry. You can host a drive or find more information about getting involved here.

Together we can save more lives.

Written by: Bret Itskowitch