**UPDATE**
As a direct result of 50 Cent’s efforts, DKMS registered over 3,600 potentially life-saving donors in less than a week. But he still wanted to do more so this Sunday August 15, 50 Cent, the G-Unity Foundation & DKMS will host a bone marrow drive at the Curtis “50 Cent” Jackson Community Garden in Queens from 12:00-4:00 p.m.
In June, Tonic reported on the sad twist of fate that has landed a rising Broadway star in a children’s hospital. Shannon Tavarez was living her dream and performing in four shows a week in Disney’s The Lion King on the Great White Way in New York City when she started developing mysterious leg and back pains that made it difficult for her to walk. Shortly after the symptoms started to develop, Shannon was diagnosed with AML leukemia.
“When I found out, it hit me really hard, like someone was throwing a ball at me. It was shocking and I thought, why me?” Tavarez says in a release. The formerly vivacious 11-year-old now resides in Schneider’s Children’s Hospital on Long Island, where she receives daily chemotherapy treatments. Unfortunately, her doctors say that due to the rapidly spreading nature of AML leukemia, her only chance at survival is a bone marrow transplant from a stranger.
The national registry of bone marrow donors consists of less than eight percent African American donors, and since Tavarez’s mother is African American and her father Dominican, the odds of finding a donor are even further diminished. Now, however, there may be hope at casting a wider reaching call for donors thanks to a very supportive voice.
When rapper and actor 50 Cent heard about Tavarez, he immediately registered with DKMS and completed a simple cheek swab to join the national registry of eligible bone marrow donors. He wants to draw attention to children like Tavarez and that broader issue of leukemia patients awaiting bone marrow donors that can be solved simply by people registering with DKMS and getting swabbed.
“My son is just a couple years older than Shannon and I can’t imagine if his life was needlessly cut short when there is someone out there that could save him,” 50 Cent says in a release. “A complete stranger is the only person who can give Shannon a fighting chance to live. Register with DKMS online at GetSwabbed.org.”
The rapper continues, “Everyone, regardless of their race or ethnicity deserves a fair chance at life. Registering to become a bone marrow donor starts with a cheek swab but it’s more than that. It’s a commitment to save a life.” He also filmed a PSA to encourage everyone between the ages of 18 and 55 in good health to register with DKMS to get swabbed and become a potential donor. More than 20,000 DKMS donors have helped save lives when they donated their bone marrow.
If 50 isn’t enough to convince you, listen to Katharina Harf, the co-founder of DKMS Americas, who lost her mother to leukemia: “Register with DKMS today so Shannon doesn’t have to keep her dream waiting.”
Photo courtesy of DKMS.
