Hand to Hand. Heart to Heart. (new alphaphi.org feature)
 

Hand to Hand. Heart to Heart.

Alpha Phis are sisters for life – we support one another and help each other in times of need. Here is one of our sister's stories. Find out how you can help.

To complement existing Alpha Phi services to assist members facing serious health problems, natural disasters or other crises, here you will find some of these special and unique requests when it is most needed.

Here are some of their stories. Find out how you can help.

Hand to hand. Heart to heart. Sister to sister.



March 29, 2005

Twenty-nine year old Heather Lynch (Lambda-UC/Berkeley) was diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) in October 2003. ALL is a cancer of the blood that has an 80 percent rate of survival. Heather has undergone chemotherapy which helped her into remission, but she has since relapsed. Chemotherapy has made it difficult for her immune system to fight deadly infections which prohibits her from participating in any experimental transplants. Her only option is awaiting possible matching donors for a lifesaving bone marrow transplant. Immediate family members and friends have been tested, but none have been a close enough match.

Anne Marie Vargas-Abernathy (Lambda-UC/Berkeley), Heather's friend and sister in Alpha Phi, is seeking matching donors for Heather and request that potential blood donors take one small extra step: ask to be included in National Bone Marrow Registry during their next blood donation.

For more information on the bone marrow donation process and how you could become a donor, visit http://www.marrow.org/.