Fans Can Visit Section 118 to be Tested for a Bone Marrow Match
SEATTLE – The Seattle Storm today announced that the organization, in partnership with ‘Be The Match’ and ‘Salute to Life’, will host a Bone Marrow Registry Drive outside section 118 on Friday, Sept. 11 as the team takes on the Minnesota Lynx.
The Bone Marrow Registry Drive is in support of 24-year Washington State patrol veteran Renee Padgett, who is battling a rare form of cancer called Multiple Myeloma. This type of cancer is in the blood’s plasma cells, a type of white blood cell present in bone marrow. Padgett was diagnosed in May of 2012 and underwent a stem cell transplant in 2013, using her own cells, putting Padgett in remission for two years. Padgett was diagnosed again in 2015, and is faced with only one option: a double-transplant with her cells and one from a donor. The Storm is hosting the Bone Marrow Registry Drive in an attempt to help find a match for Padgett, allowing fans to be tested and join the registry.
Padgett pioneered the Homeward Bound program, putting posters of missing children on semi-trucks throughout the state.
Seattle Storm President & GM Alisha Valavanis be getting tested and joining the registry for this cause on Friday.
The tests performed at the game on Sept. 11 will consist of cheek swabs. To be tested, fans must be between the ages of 18-44. Additionally, fans can join the registry online through ‘Be The Match’, and have kits mailed to them, using promo code “TrooperRenee.”