Parents of little Korbyn Martinez still are looking for that perfect donor to give him life-saving bone marrow and a chance at a healthy life.
So the UCF community is rallying again with OneBlood and the “Be The Match” organization to help the 21-month-old son of engineering alumna Hillary Martinez. Korbyn needs a bone marrow transplant to fight an aggressive form of leukemia.
Today during the regularly scheduled blood drive at the Student Union there will be an opportunity to register to be a bone marrow donor on the national registry. It takes just a few minutes; volunteers take a swab of the inside of your cheek. Your DNA is then matched with those waiting for marrow transplants on the national registry.
The Martinezes are hoping someone in the Knights’ family might be Korbyn’s perfect match.
Although the UCF drive is meant to help find Korbyn’s donor, someone could be a match for another person waiting for a life-saving donation.
The OneBlood drive runs from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. today.
Ideal bone marrow donors are ages 18 to 44.
For more information, go to OneBlood.org.
You can read more about Korbyn Martinez’ story here.