Jordan Jackson-Clark
about jordan
Jordan was recently diagnosed with leukemia and needs to find a blood stem cell donor match. Jordan is 24 years old, bi-racial (Black and white), and Jewish, which is a hard match to find.
Jordan is a kind, generous, humorous, bright young man. He was raised in the Oakland and Berkeley area of California. He loves sports and has a competitive spirit, but he will always use that competitive nature to lift up and fight for friends and family. He has always been a rock of support when family and friends have suffered loss or hardship. And now Jordan needs our help.
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What comes to mind when I think of Jordan? Just pure kindness. I don’t know one single person who doesn’t love him! His ability to connect with people across all spectrums is something that makes him special. I love the way he engages with children: sweet, encouraging, playful, and patient. I love the way he connects with older adults: charming, engaged, and respectful. When I think of Jordan, I think of how accepting he is. He takes people as they are and loves them. Jordan is quick to offer a hug or arm around the shoulder. There are many times when he has comforted me in this way and no words were needed to communicate his love and empathy."
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How you can help
Jordan's wide, diverse community of family and friends have all answered the call to join the blood stem cell registry during his time of need. But, as is often the case in life, the kindness of strangers can really make a difference.
Please help get the word out to our collective, multi-racial, multi-ethnic, beloved community to promote more diversity on the registry. This could help Jordan, or it could help another soul in need.
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There are three easy steps to join the registry.
Register
Joining the Be registry means volunteering to be listed as a potential donor
Swab
A kit will be mailed to you to take a sample of your DNA from a simple cheek swab at home
Save a Life
If your DNA is a match for a patient in need, they will notify you.
Why ethnicity is the key to a perfect match.
The shortage of diverse donors costs lives.
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Many blood cancer patients lose their lives because no matching marrow donor is found in the worldwide registry, even though there are now more than 33 million registered donors from dozens of countries.
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The numbers are shocking: 75% of Blacks, 75% of multi-racial individuals, 55% of Latinos and Hispanics, and 60% of Asian Americans do not have a perfectly matched donor in the worldwide registry.
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The reason matches are so difficult to find for these patients is simple: their genetic heritage is underrepresented in the registry, which means people sharing a similar lineage or ethnicity have not joined the registry in sufficient numbers.
Disrupt the disparity​
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Bone marrow and stem cell transplants are one-to-one: one donor is a tissue type match for one patient and donates to that person. The factors tested to make sure the donor and recipient are a match and the transplant can work are called Human Leukocyte Antigens (HLA). You get half your HLA from your mother and half from your father.
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The best chance of finding a perfect HLA match is with someone of the same ethnicity. Looking at who your ancestors were generations ago can give transplant doctors hints about who might be your perfect match today.
When a population of people is geographically isolated, or intermarries within the same group for many generations, naturally occurring HLA mutations stay within that group. Today people disperse freely around the world, but you carry the HLA from your ancestors within you, and finding a perfect HLA match means finding another person who shares your ethnicity.
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Multi-racial individuals often have rare combinations of antigens in their HLA profiles, making it even more difficult to locate perfect matches. It is urgent that more multi-racial individuals join the registry.
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You could save a life and become a hero – this is your best chance!
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About one in every 1,000 donors on the registry will someday be called as a possible match for a patient. Some of those called will turn out to be the best possible match, and will get that miraculous opportunity to save someone’s life.
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All you have to do to join the registry is give a simple cheek swab and complete a health questionnaire.
Your donation could give Jordan and other people of color a second chance at life: order your swab kit now and join the registry.