In early July of 2017, Aashim Joy was diagnosed with ALL (B-Cell Type Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia). His only hope for a cure is a matching bone marrow transplant, and we first reported his story here.

Aashim is currently in remission, which is good news, at least temporarily.  For leukemia patients undergoing chemotherapy, remission means that there is ‘less’ cancer in the body.  Unfortunately, the chance of a relapse, or a recurrence of cancer, remains high and it is important that they maintain their treatments, and continue their search for a matching bone marrow donor.

Aashim Joy lives up to his name, literally.  He is in good spirits, always positive and usually ‘joyful’.  He is very focused on spreading the word about joining the registry and supporting patient services.

Spreading Awareness / Creating Superheroes

Recently, he attended and spoke at our 5K in NYC, he also talked about his journey at our Mix & Match event last month.  If you attended either event, you heard Aashim speak about becoming a superhero. He is on a mission, he wants to create superheroes.  He is devoted to educating as many people as possible about the importance of registering to become a bone marrow donor, and staying committed if you are identified as a match for someone.  He wants everyone to understand how meaningful it is to save a life and thus, how easy it is to become a superhero. 

Working with bone marrow patients for the last 25 years, we know he is right.  We understand that reaching out to friends and posting on social media does not generate the numbers necessary to save the many lives who are in need of a matching donor.  Try as we may, enough people don’t understand how simple the process of registering is. They fail to recognize that the vast majority of bone marrow donations are neither painful, nor invasive. As Aashim says – “There are a lot of misconceptions associated with bone marrow transplant, and most folks don’t really feel it’s worth the effort to wake up on a Sunday morning and register as a donor.”

Aashim, along with his beautiful and intelligent wife Reema, stand behind this mission, to raise awareness and increase support.  From their apartment in NYC, Aashim and his wife have spearheaded many bone marrow drives throughout India.  His friends at Deloitte put together a fundraising team and participated as ‘Run For Joy’ in the MatchMaker 5K.  Aashim even donated his birthday to the Icla da Silva Foundation, helping our efforts to provide more patient support services to those in need.

Supporting and Fundraising

Aashim donated his birthday by setting up a simple donation page. He went to www.icla.org/get-involved and clicked on “Fundraise with Us.” From this link, he easily developed an online fundraising page.  Aashim wrote a short paragraph about his experience, and then posted the link to his Facebook page, inviting his friends and followers to get involved. The fundraiser lasted until his birthday, and raised 120% of the goal! Thank you to Aashim and all his friends and family for taking this extra step to ensure that more patients who need a bone marrow transplant can find a match. You are all superheroes and you are all saving lives!

It’s so easy to start a fundraiser for the Icla da Silva Foundation.  Follow the same steps as Aashim, customize your fundraising page, and share with your friends and family. It doesn’t have to be your birthday to get involved.  Whether you’re running a marathon, remembering a loved one, or celebrating an anniversary, any time is a good time to be a superhero and help save lives.

You can be a Superhero!

Everyone between the ages of 18-40 can be a superhero.  Start by joining the registry in honor of Aashim https://join.bethematch.org/gettestedforjoy. If you want to make a donation to Aashim’s birthday fundraiser, you can still do so here.

Thank you to Aashim, and his wife Reema, for your continued efforts to spread awareness about blood cancers and the power of joining the Be The Match registry; saving a life can make anyone a superhero.