Sacramento mom Ann Silberman is dying. And she wants you to consider how you can save a life, but not hers.
In an opinion column that ran in Sunday's Forum in The Bee, Ann explained how joining the bone marrow registry as a donor can save someone's life. All it takes is a cheek swab and a commitment to step up should you be a match.
"Whose life will you save?" Ann wrote in her column. "How about my son's friend, Kurt Lee? Kurt is a 16-year-old boy diagnosed with leukemia two years ago. He is of Chinese descent and now needs a bone marrow transplant. Can you imagine being 16, missing two years of school - the world of teenage fun: homework and crushes and sports - all going on without you? Can you imagine living your life on chemotherapy, feeling sick and constantly exhausted?
... I won't survive this cancer experience; it's too late for me. But Kurt can live and you can make it happen."
There is a bone marrow drive today for Kurt and others in need. It's from 2 p.m. to 7 p.m. at Mira Loma High School, where Kurt attended school until he relapsed recently. For more on the bone marrow drive, click HERE.
To read Ann's column, click HERE.
Loretta Kalb started her reporting career at The Sacramento Union, moved to KOVR-13 as a television reporter, editor and producer, headed to The Associated Press in San Francisco and eventually returned to Sacramento and joined The Sacramento Bee. Throughout her career, she has covered the state Legislature, courts, local government and, now, education. She is a Chico native and an Elk Grove resident.
Diana Lambert began her journalism career as a proofreader at the Lodi News-Sentinel. She is now a senior writer at The Sacramento Bee covering K-12 education and California State University, Sacramento. Previously she was The Bee’s Elk Grove bureau chief. Lambert was raised in a military family and lived at bases around the globe. She attended four high schools, graduating from Tokay High in Lodi and then Sacramento State University. She lives in Elk Grove.
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