Massachusetts Daily Collegian

A free and responsible press serving the UMass community since 1890

A free and responsible press serving the UMass community since 1890

Massachusetts Daily Collegian

A free and responsible press serving the UMass community since 1890

Massachusetts Daily Collegian

Many attend bone marrow drive at Hampshire College

A steady flow of students, faculty, and community members filled the second floor of the Robert Crown Center at Hampshire College yesterday afternoon, engaging in light conversation, enjoying refreshments and listening to live music.

However, despite the festive atmosphere of the event, these people were there for a serious reason: to potentially save someone’s life.

Many people came to show their support for Hampshire College Professor Eric Schocket, who was diagnosed with acute leukemia in September 2005, by registering to be a bone marrow donor.

Potential donors undergo a simple test, just a q-tip swab of the inside of both cheeks, and then each donor’s tissue is then entered into a national registry, where it can be compared to and potentially matched with someone in need.

“How many opportunities do you get to save someone’s life?” asked Schocket.

The drive was organized by Schocket and his colleagues in hopes to find a bone marrow donor not only for himself, but perhaps for one of the 5,000 currently waiting on donor lists, half of whom are children, said Schocket.

The drive was held by the Caitlin Raymond International Registry, a non-profit organization of the UMass Memorial Medical Center in Massachusetts. Schocket said that he chose this organization because they were well-funded and “super enthusiastic.”

A bone marrow transplant is Schocket’s only hope to beat his cancer because of a rare chromosomal abnormality he has which makes remission impossible.

Schocket was diagnosed with acute leukemia at the end of September. He is currently undergoing chemotherapy treatment. He suffered a number of problems during his first round of treatments and had to spend some time in the hospital because of diabetes, a rare side effect of the chemo.

It was during this time that Schocket got the idea to hold a bone marrow registration drive.

“I was feeling like the most unlucky person, and I am not the type to sit around and take it,” he said.

Even though the chances of finding a donor for him are slim, Schocket said he believes that he owes it to other victims to get as many people registered as possible.

“Because someone else held a drive like this one, I might find a donor. So I want to do my part in return and hopefully help someone else,” he said.

Every year 30,000 patients are diagnosed with a disease treatable by a bone marrow transplant, said the Caitlin Raymond International Registry Web site. According to the press release, one in 20,000 white donors will prove to be a match for a patient, but the numbers for minority patients are much less hopeful. A diverse population of donors is desperately needed to help all patients with these life-threatening diseases.

Schocket said that he believed that being a donor would be an incredible experience. “Someone that you have never met literally allows you to be reborn,” he said.

Schocket said that it has been difficult to have his health control his life, but that community support has been great. Because he was diagnosed at the end of September and had to start treatment right away, he had to leave Hampshire College and his students in the middle of the semester. He said that he was grateful for his colleagues who took on extra responsibilities to allow him to focus on his health.

Schocket said that his students showed their support early on with cards and e-mails. On Monday they were able to go a step further and register to be a donor.

Jake Herson, a former student of Schocket’s, said that he decided to register because of his relation to Schocket and also to perhaps save someone’s life.

“It is an important event for all of us to make a difference and for the Hampshire community to show our support for Eric,” said Rachel Conrad, one of Schocket’s friends and colleagues who helped organized the event.

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