OLYMPIA, Wash. — Claire LaSee of Olympia is celebrating her dad this Father's Day by honoring his wish to save lives.
LaSee said her dad joined the bone marrow donor registry back in the 1980’s, but she didn’t know what that really meant until 2011, when she was visiting her parents from grad school and came across a piece of mail that spoke to her.
“My dad, Jerry, received a letter thanking him for his service on the bone marrow registry, but was now too old to donate.”
That led to a discussion where Claire learned that her dad joined the registry when a 12-year-old niece of his friend was diagnosed with an aggressive type of cancer.
“Unfortunately he wasn’t a match for her and she passed away, but he remained on the registry in the hopes of helping someone else” says LaSee.
It took a few years but Claire knew she wanted to replace her father on the donor registry and by 2014 she took the leap of faith.
“It’s just a cheek swab and the reality is that you’re not likely going to get the call from the registry.”
Over the past 30 years, Be The Match, operated by the National Marrow Donor Program, has managed the most diverse marrow registry in the world.
A patient's likelihood of finding a matching bone marrow donor or cord blood unit on the Be The Match Registry ranges from 29% to 79% depending on ethnic background.
In 2019, LaSee got the call she never expected.
“I was a match and suddenly I was in a position to donate live saving bone marrow.” says LaSee.
She said the call carried extra weight because only a few years earlier her dad passed away. He was in need of lung transplant, but couldn’t find a donor. He passed away and Claire says her experience of watching a family member in need of a donor propelled her to be an exception.
“I knew it was incredible rare to get chosen to donate, but every person on the list counts and I wanted to at least step up and see if I could be the match for someone.”
She donated at the University of Washington and a year later Seattle’s Be The Match Collection Center opened up to increase capacity to collect blood cells in the Pacific Northwest.
LaSee is now advocating for Federal support to remove one major barrier for potential donors. LaSee is sharing her story to ask Congress to support H.R. 7770, the Life Saving Leave Act.
This registration allows people, in any U.S. state, to take off up to 40 non-consecutive, unpaid hours of leave to donate, without the risk of losing their jobs. The legislation would merely ensure the donor’s job would be protected while they are involved in the the donation process, which normally takes no more than 40 hours.
LaSee said her dad’s legacy is simple to encourage more people to step up to the plate in case by chance they are the the answer for someone desperate for a match. 70 percent of the population don’t have a fully-matched donor in their own family.
This Father’s Day, LaSee know she will be missing her dad and hopes he would be proud of her for carrying on his wish to help save more lives.