Article Published: Saturday, December 31, 2005

Fairbanks Daily News Miner

Hundreds respond to drive

By MARY BETH SMETZER, Staff Writer

Rolling down his shirt sleeve Friday afternoon after donating a small vial of blood for the National Bone Marrow Registry, Joe Weber said, "I've been meaning to do this for a long time. This was a good motivator to get on the registry."

The Woodriver Elementary School teacher's aide was referring to Friday's statewide bone marrow and blood drive prompted by four-time Iditarod winner Susan Butcher's recent diagnosis of acute myelogenous leukemia.

Butcher and Michael Donaldson, a 30-year Alaska resident who is in need of an immediate transplant, both are looking for matching bone marrow donors.

The Blood Bank of Alaska and GCI, Butcher's longtime sponsor, partnered to organize and underwrite Friday's collection effort at seven sites around the state.

As of Friday evening, more than 1,200 donors were unofficially tallied statewide. Fairbanks, with 527 donors, led the pack in donor numbers, said Jack Williams, chief executive officer of Blood Bank of Alaska.

Weber and a number of other donors who turned out Friday at Fairbanks Memorial Hospital, said they have had a member of their extended family who died of leukemia or another type of cancer.

"I've always thought this would be a good way to help people out," Weber said.

The blood samples will be sent to Puget Sound Blood Center and matched with anyone in need of a bone marrow transplant. Donors are entered into the National Marrow Donor Program Donor Registry.

Forty-two donors like John Manthei, an itinerant carpenter and a longtime friend of Susan Butcher, not only donated blood for a bone marrow sampling, but also provided a pint of blood to the Alaska Blood Bank Fairbanks Center at the hospital.

From the phlebotomists drawing blood at five separate stations in the McGowan Room at FMH, to the teens directing donors, almost everyone involved was a volunteer.

"This has been a huge community effort," said Jean Krupa, community coordinator for the Blood Bank's Fairbanks Center.

Teens from West Valley and Lathrop High School Key Clubs were on hand serving as guides and runners, as well as manning an information table.

Although Mark Layer, a 17-year-old West Valley senior, isn't a Key Club member, he had heard about the drive from a friend and put in a four-hour afternoon shift, sitting just outside an exit door.

"I'm directing people out so they don't get lost in the maze of the hospital," he said.

Layer said he decided to help out since he wasn't doing anything else during school vacation, adding, "It's something cool to do."

Friends of Butcher, who has run the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race 17 times, and her husband, Dave Monson, also a musher, were evident.

"I came to do what I could for Susan or anyone else in her circumstance," said Dan Wetzel, a big game and bird-watching guide.

Wetzel's attitude was reflected in the comments and actions of the hundreds of Fairbanksans who showed up throughout the day.

Krupa said the effort went smoothly all day long because of the help from hospital personnel and volunteers from Bassett Army Community Hospital, Eielson Health Clinic and public health nurses. She also credited Chris DuBois for implementing the incident command system, similar to the mass flu vaccination conducted in November at Pioneer Park.

"The hospital has been awesome, giving us the rooms, free lunches and food breaks," Krupa said.

The only lag in the drive was filling out the form, which entails about 15 minutes of reading and writing, Krupa said, whereas the actual blood sample donation takes only five minutes.

Three of Carmen Brooks' sons, Blaze, 10, Benjamin 5, and Bristol, 2, watched intently as their mother rolled up her sleeve and extended her arm preparatory to donating a small sample of blood.

The three boys didn't flinch as Dan Fowler, a research data assistant at the Oncology Data Center at Fairbanks Memorial Hospital, inserted a needle into Brooks' forearm and withdrew a small tube of blood. Pursing her lips, Carmen looked away from the procedure.

Afterward, Fowler told the boys, "Your mom did a good job."

Mary Beth Smetzer can be reached at msmetzer@newsminer.com or 459-7546.