Barrington Cancer Survivor, Stem Cell Transplant Recipient Host Blood & Marrow Registry Drive November 17
Although separated by 10 years, Barrington's Carter Bailey and Max Lewis are on a mission to raise awareness about the importance of blood donation and the Be the Match Marrow Registry.
Bailey, a cancer survivor, and Lewis, a stem cell transplant recipient, will partner for the 2nd annual CarterStrong & Max's Mission Blood Drive and Be the Match Marrow Registry Event with Vitalant, formerly LifeSource. The drive will take place Saturday, November 17, 8 a.m. to 2 p.m., at the Barrington Countryside Fire Protection District, 22222 North Pepper Rd., in Lake Barrington.
All donors will receive a voucher for a free pint of custard courtesy of Culver's through its
'Give a Pint, Get a Pint' partnership with Vitalant.
CarterStrong
Carter Bailey's high school years were moving in the right direction. But that all came to a crashing halt when, in 2014, the Barrington High School senior was diagnosed with Acute Myeloid Leukemia (AML), sending both his and his family's life into a tailspin.
Thankfully, several chemotherapy treatments, followed by a fortunate bone marrow match and eventual transplant, proved successful. And while Carter missed what would have been his freshman year of college, he is now thriving as a 23-year-old senior at Indiana University in Bloomington.
Grateful for the more than 60 units of blood and platelets he received during his treatment, not to mention the life-saving bone marrow transplant, Carter Bailey is President of Indiana's "Be the Match on Campus" program, which strives to recruit students into the national Be the Match marrow registry.
Max's Mission
Max Lewis was also enjoying the life that any parent would wish for their child until he was diagnosed with Aplastic Anemia, a failure of his bone marrow, when he was just 11 years old. Fortunately, a bone marrow match for Max was discovered, thanks to a young man living outside Columbus, Ohio, and a stem cell transplant was performed in April of 2017.
Max received blood and platelet transfusions following the procedure and today is thriving as a 7th grader at Prairie Middle School in Barrington, where he just completed his season as a member of the soccer team.
"The blood and platelet donations played a crucial role in Max's treatment. It's only due to the generosity of volunteer donors that we are fortunate to have our young boy back living the life that every child is supposed to enjoy," said mom Lisa Lewis, who volunteers as a Lurie's Children's Hospital patient advocate, assisting families whose children are needing bone marrow transplants.
For more information or to make an appointment to donate at the CarterStrong & Max's Mission
Blood & Marrow Registry Drive, email bailey60010@gmail.com or visit www.vitalant.org, log in, scroll down and enter group code 384D.
In preparation for their donation, donors are asked to eat well, stay hydrated and arrive with proper identification. The donation appointment takes about an hour (with the donation itself only around ten minutes) and is both safe and comfortable. Donors must be at least 18 years old (16 and 17 years of age with parental consent).
LifeSource is now Vitalant
Earlier this year, Blood Systems announced that its 10 blood center brands including LifeSource had united as one cohesive brand under the new name Vitalant. In the Chicagoland area, Vitalant has 17 donation centers, four fixed sites, and hosts an average of six blood drives every day. View all center locations and blood drive dates by visiting vitalant.org or call 877-258-4825 (877-25VITAL).