Free bone marrow testing offered throughout April

The San Diego Blood Bank is not only encouraging people to donate blood one more time in April, they’re also asking healthy individuals between the ages of 18 and 60 to join the National Marrow Donor Program (NMDP) registry in order to help the thousands of patients who are actively searching for a matching stem cell donor.

Amy Antriasian, a 12-year-old from San Marcos who is battling leukemia, hopes more people will be tested. Antriasian is also currently receiving blood transfusions as part of her treatment.

Throughout the month of April, people will be able to join the national registry – free of charge, thanks to a generous donation by the Bone Marrow Foundation of San Diego – by visiting any San Diego Blood Bank donor center. All it takes to join the NMDP registry is a small amount of the donor’s blood for analysis.

The North County Donor Center is at 1340 West Valley Parkway, Escondido, (760) 489-0621; the North Coastal Donor Center is at 161 Thunder Drive, Vista, (760) 945-1906.