St. Baldrick's takes marrow donations

NORFOLK, Va. (WAVY) - If you're sick of bad hair days, why not shave it all off?

Saturday, dozens of people will do just that in Norfolk, at the 10th annual St. Baldrick's Celebration, to conquer childhood cancer.

But if the bald look isn't your thing, there is another way you can help, and it won't hurt a bit.

Markell and Michael Jenkins are like most brothers--together they play and argue.

Kobe and Lebron, we argue about that everyday, they said. Michael tried to convince us, Kobe is better, while Markell quickly jumped in, "Well I think Lebron's better."

These brothers are bonded, not just by blood, but bone marrow.

Five years ago, Markell had Aplastic Anemia , a rare blood disorder. His skin started to turn gray.
He was near death and needed a bone marrow transplant. Fortunately, his older brother Michael was a perfect match.

The newspaper story about them that hangs on the wall in Markell's bedroom, has a happy ending, but Markell points out a picture of the children who were in the hospital with him, for the whole story.

"One of the people I met was Paris," he said. "He was a cool guy but he passed away."

In fact, more than half of them did not survive.

That's generally the way it is, said Karen McKinley a licensed clinical social worker..

"About 10,000 people a year need a bone marrow transplant, and 70 percent of them do not have a family match," she said. So she is helping to organize a bone marrow registry drive.

"It's just a simple cheek swab, and you do that yourself, and put it in a container, and then it goes off to the National Marrow Donor program ," she said.

Then, like Michael, you may one day get the chance to save a life. "It hurt but then the next day I was all right," he said.

Normally it costs $100 to run the test for bone marrow matches, but Saturday it's free. Just go to the St. Baldricks Fundraiser at the main stage at Waterside in Norfolk.

The event begins at 9:30 a.m.