DuPage residents sign up to help ailing Air Force vet

Chris Alpers said he was “amazed” by the response of people in and around Wheaton to the plight of his sister-in-law, retired U.S. Air Force Maj. Marie Brady.

Alpers — his brother, Joe, is Brady’s husband — helped organize a bone-marrow-registry drive over the weekend for Brady, who needs a bone-marrow transplant while battling a rare form of leukemia.

On Saturday, the first day of the drive, 100 people joined the national registry. People continued to sign up Sunday morning.

“It’s astounding,” Alpers said. “I talked to Joe earlier, because he and Marie have organized drives like this. The most they ever get on a single day was 70, and we had 100, with more to come. I’m so grateful.”

The drive was held at Yoga By Degrees in Wheaton, the town where Chris and Joe Alpers grew up. John Hardison of Yoga By Degrees is a friend.

“Yesterday we had an 88-year-old veteran of World War II come in, wanting to sign up,” Hardison said. “He drove here from south Naperville because he wanted to help a fellow soldier. We had to turn him down, because the maximum age for the registry is 61, but it was a beautiful gesture.”

Brady and her husband, married in 2007, live in Colorado. Before retiring, Brady spent 27 years with the Air Force; trained as a physician’s assistant, she helped many soldiers with medical care.

In 2010, Brady was diagnosed with chronic myelomonocytic leukemia. A bone-marrow transplant is considered a vital part of her treatment.

Finding a bone-marrow match is difficult, said Samedi Tan, a representative of Be The Match, the group that operates the registry. Seventy percent of people needing a transplant can’t find a match within their own families.

“That’s why the registry is so important,” he said.

For information about joining the registry to help Brady or anyone who needs a marrow transplant, go to bethematch.org.