A Reno cancer patient and her family hosted a registry event on Sunday to raise awareness about the need for bone marrow donors.
Amanda Ratcliffe is battling lymphoma and working with a national non-profit to help save the lives of other blood cancer patients. The Be the Match registry, connects blood cancer patients with matching DNA donors.
This registry has helped Amanda find the perfect donor for her rare condition. Sunday's event will not only help Be the Match find more matching donors, but it will also help with Amanda's medical bills.
Amanda Ratcliffe was first diagnosed 12 years ago with large B-cell lymphoma, but she says she quickly battled away the disease.
“Six months of chemo and was basically cured after five years, no more cancer,” says Ratcliffe.
In September of 2014 a chest exam showed that the cancer had returned. The cancer returned as large T-celled lymphoma; a more rare condition.
Amanda with the help of her sisters and six children began asking the community to help save not only her life, but the lives of others with rare blood conditions.
At Sunday's event, community residents between the ages of 18 to 44 could join the Be the Match registry by giving a simple cheek swab.
Through the registry, Amanda has found her matching DNA donor. She will travel to Stanford next month where she will get a stem cell transplant
Her donor's stem cells will be implanted into her bone marrow which will create a new immune system that will kill her cancer.
