Tributes

I saw this post and had to post the information here.

Mandi Schwartz, a 22-year old member of the Yale women’s ice hockey team, has recently been diagnosed with acute myeloid leukemia for the second time. She is currently back home in Saskatchewan, Canada undergoing chemotherapy, and within the next 30-45 days she will have to have a stem cell transplant to survive. We have not yet located a donor who is a perfect match.

Under the leadership of Dr. Tedd Collins, a New Haven-based clinical immunologist, we are undertaking a world-wide search for cord blood and bone marrow donors. In addition to helping Mandi, these donors could also save the lives of many others with life-threatening illnesses. Dr. Collins has launched the “Become Mandi’s Hero” campaign to coordinate our efforts to find donors. The process of donating a newborn baby's cord blood is free & harmless for all involved, and it could save a life. In many cases the umbilical cords that could save someone like Mandi’s life wind up getting thrown away.

Dr. Collins will send cord blood collection kits to people who request them free of charge & will even pay for return postage (a cost that is usually in the $1000s). Expectant mothers can visit www.BecomeMandisHero.org to learn more about the cord blood donation process. Attached is a brochure that explains how to get a kit from Dr. Collins if you are an expectant mother.

There is also a $1,000 reward to the mother with a successful match. Those of German, Russian, and Ukranian ancestry are strongly encouraged to donate, however, a cord blood donation of any ancestry can obviously still impact someone's life.

By helping Mandi you will be giving birth to two lives at once.

Thank you!