If you have gone to our church for any length of time, you know Hurst Bartley. He is a vital member of our congregation. He has participated in the Haunted House, helped lead the church through the remodel in 2014, and he is one of the very talented members of Leap of Faith. Hurst has done so much more than that, as he is committed to serving Jesus through the Sewickley United Methodist Church. Hurst is family.
And if you know Hurst, you know he has been struggling with cancer for many years now. He has been blessed with great doctors and good health to be able to be on the receiving end of many new medical trials to help fight the cancer. He is now facing another one of those trials. We have been praying for and with him, encouraging him and helping to keep his spirits and his lovely wife Diane’s spirits high.
There is now something else you can do: become a donor of stem cells. The good news is they no longer have to drill into your bone marrow to do this. They can collect from your blood. For a person with good veins, they do it through a regular IV just like donating blood. You receive a couple of shots ahead of giving blood to stir up the stem cells. None of that happens unless or until you are identified as a match for someone. This all comes with the hope and possibility you can be a match for Hurst. However, even if not for Hurst, you could be a match for someone. To get your match profile and register is just a cheek swab and medical history, and it could literally save a life.
Here are some resources about donating. The first is a link to the National Donor registry (NMDP). The second is more about first line related donors (parents, siblings, children). Note that you must be between the ages of 18–40 to join the registry. Studies show that patients receiving blood stem cells from younger donors have a better long-term survival rate.