Health & Fitness

Great Bay Community Hosts DKMS Bone Marrow Drive

The college and DKMS are hoping to find donors to help Cameron Russell, 19, who is battling his second fight with leukemia​.

PORTSMOUTH, NH — The community is rallying around a Great Bay Community College (GBCC) student battling leukemia with hopes to find him a lifesaving bone marrow donor. Cameron Russell, 19, has endured more than most students his age; in the last 16 months, he survived a near-fatal car accident that left him in a coma for three weeks – and led doctors to discover he had leukemia. He immediately began treatment and received a bone marrow transplant but, unfortunately, his leukemia recently relapsed, according to a press statement.

The Great Bay community, including Russell’s professors, classmates, and the Great Bay Student Nurses Association, have partnered with DKMS, the nonprofit leading the fight against blood cancer, to host a bone marrow registration drive called “Cameron’s Century Challenge” with the goal of registering 100 potential donors.

“When I woke up from that coma, I saw the world in a different light. I am ready to get healthy, finish school and get on with my life,” said Russell.

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According to DKMS, 70 percent of people suffering from blood-related illnesses must rely on donors outside their families to save their life. Swabbing your cheek is all it takes to register as a potential donor.

Anyone in good general health who is between the ages of 18-55 can register. Stop by Great Bay Community College, 320 Corporate Drive in Portsmouth (at the Pease Tradeport) between 9 a.m. and 4 p.m. on Monday, Feb. 26, 2018.

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Image and text submitted by Daniella Alkobi.


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