How Eboni's search for purpose helps NMDP save lives
How Eboni's search for purpose helps NMDP save lives
Original published date: 8/29/2024
It started with a simple online search. What followed was an incredible commitment to patients who need a blood stem cell transplant.
It was March 2020. Eboni was on her way home to Colorado where she would spend spring break from her master's degree program at Harvard Divinity School in Massachusetts. Then she got the call so many people remember: COVID-19 meant she couldn't go back to campus for classes.
Eboni felt a loss of purpose and began Googling virtual volunteer opportunities. The first one that showed up: NMDP.
She clicked on the link and her journey to becoming a blood stem cell donor—and then an advocate—for NMDP began.
Answering the call during the first weeks of a new job
When Eboni first clicked the link, she didn't know about NMDP or that being a life-saving blood stem cell donor for a patient with a blood cancer or disease was even a possibility. But she signed up for the NMDP RegistrySM immediately, got her swab kit in the mail a few days later and sent it back the same day.
Just over a year later, fresh off receiving her master's degree, Eboni was sitting in new employee orientation when her phone rang. "I actually missed the first call. I was like, 'Minneapolis? I don't know anyone from Minneapolis. Why would they be calling me?' I thought it was spam," she said.
Then she got an email asking her to return the call. "I knew I had to call back. It was just bone chilling. It was so exciting!" Eboni shared.
When she called back during a break, she found out she was a match for a teenage girl who needed a blood stem cell transplant. The doctor had requested she donate bone marrow, which is less common than donating peripheral blood stem cells and requires anesthesia.
She needed to fly to Washington, D.C., to donate bone marrow and that would require time off from a job she'd just started.
"I had to ask my employer for days off because, with it being my first month, I didn't really have PTO. She did not hesitate. She said, 'Whatever it takes, let me know.' It was amazing," Eboni said.
From blood stem cell donor to advocacy ambassador
Eboni's bone marrow donation went well, and she made a TikTok video from her hospital bed the same day. She posted it, went to sleep and woke up to the realization that her video went viral. There were hundreds of thousands of views. "[In the comments], people were asking how do they get involved," Eboni says. NMDP contacted her asking if she wanted to add a unique join code to the post so people had an easy way to register.
Her answer: absolutely. It was her first act of advocacy for NMDP. 1,241 new potential registry members signed up from that single post.
After that, she wanted to do anything she could to support NMDP's mission to save lives through cell therapy. She started doing donor drives in her area in Colorado to get more people to join the registry. She did speaking events to talk about her experience donating bone marrow.
Then NMDP asked Eboni to become an NMDP advocacy ambassador working to educate state and federal lawmakers about the importance of supporting legislation that saves more lives.
As an ambassador, she's returned to Washington, D.C., twice to advocate for House bills in support of NMDP's mission—including the Life Saving Leave Act that would allow more donors to say yes when they get the call to donate. The Life Saving Leave Act would ensure blood stem cell donors, like Eboni, have up to 40 non-consecutive, unpaid hours of leave without a risk to their jobs.
"I'm so happy for you to be part of my life now"
In November 2023, Eboni got to see the life-changing difference blood stem cell donation and advocacy make when she met her recipient, Amya, for the first time. It was an emotional meeting for them and their families.
Amya told Eboni, "I'm so happy for you to be a part of my life now and for our journey to begin."
And Eboni can't wait to see what Amya's life holds for her saying, "I feel like this is our purpose. We're supposed to be here. I'm so excited to see you graduate and get married like we talked about. I'm so excited to see you succeed in life because you're going to do it."
As Eboni's experience shows, joining the NMDP Registry is just one way to support patients who need a life-saving blood stem cell transplant. Discover how you can get involved through advocacy, volunteering, making a financial gift or spreading the word about NMDP.