On March 28, 2002 my dear friend, Carolyn, lost her 2 1/2 son, Brady, to Aplastic Anemia. Brady was among the first people in the country to receive his own cord blood in a transfusion. This was cutting edge technology in 2002. Since his untimely death, Carolyn and her husband, Andy have started The Brady Kohn Foundation in an effort to educate the public on the importance of cord blood.
Thanks to them, thanks to Brady, women in Delaware can donate their umblical cord blood. Donate. It's life giving. It's used to treat over 70 diseases right now. If not donated it's simply washed down the drain.
Working with the Brady Kohn Foundation, I was able to donate Sarah and John's cord blood. Hero's at birth, my friends.
AND, in case you are reading this wondering about stem cells and all the controversy that goes along with it? These stem cells are NOT EMBRYONIC. They CANNOT BE COAXED INTO LIFE. This is just pure, unadulterated, good stuff. I can't put it any simpler.
Friends, you've shown me so much support. You've read about my deepest, darkest moments. I'm asking you to show just a little more and visit our website here to read about Brady today, on the anniversary of his leaving us. You can learn more about what we do over there on our site. You can also click on my tab 'umbilical cord blood.'
Wow. Wish I had known about it when my kids were born. I certainly would have done it.
ReplyDeleteSuch a wonderful thing that Carolyn and Andy husband have done to help save lives and honor the memory of their precious son.
Uh, yeah, that 'husband' shouldn't be there. I think I had 'her husband' and then changed it to his name and didn't omit it. It's Monday.
ReplyDeleteThanks girlfriend! It is because of you and our other supporters that we are able to do what we do :) AND then you go and tell people to get pregnant so that we can get more donations (LOL)but the wishing for natural birth for me just wasn't right :)
ReplyDeleteI wish I had thought about this too when I had my kids. Wonder if we have something similar here in BC?
ReplyDeleteI wonder why the option to donate isn't more widely known? I surely would have opted for it.
ReplyDeleteSuch a great idea. When my son was born we chose not to store the cord blood because it was just too expensive. If I had been given the option to donate, I definitely would have done so.
ReplyDeleteThe option to donate is still relatively new, as well banking. It's amazing.
ReplyDeleteI don't know anything about BC medical system, but I do know we are hooked up with the NMBD, which is world wide. There is a link on the tab at the top of my page if you're looking for more info. I know you can absolutely bank in BC, but as far as donating, I have no idea.
ReplyDeleteDonating is really, really new. When I had Violet I actually asked my Doc's about banking and they discouraged me! 10 months later I met Carolyn and went, "OMG" We're the first donation program in DE, with programs around us starting. There is a program in FL that you can go through to donate from any state. So if you know any expectant mama's . . . :)
ReplyDeleteYes, the word definitely needs to get around. I would have donated in a heartbeat if I had known. I didn't want to spend the money to bank my cordblood and I was furious to find out they were just going to throw it away. All I could think was "Why??"
ReplyDeleteBack in 2000, they talked about having the ability to save it for your children in the furture, should they need it. I looked into it and it was soooo expensive, I couldn't do it. I don't think donation was even an option then. So glad they have come so far. This is an excellent cause. Good for you!
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