How to Donate Bone Marrow

This is a repost, by permission, from Save Aidan - a donation drive to help a fellow ex-pat recently diagnosed with Leukemia and in desperate need of a bone marrow transplant. If you have any spare cash, even a few hundred yen or a dollar, he would appreciate it. 

It really is easy to become a donor. Go to this page. Click on チャンス (chance) under Step 1.

Click 次へ bottom right to the last page – this will take quite a few clicks. Then click はい and scroll to the bottom of the next screen. Click this button:

Click here to agree:  上記内容に同意します*

Download the form, print it out, fill it in, and take it to the nearest registration centre (NB: English version of this page doesn't work, so use Google Translate if you're having trouble), in my case the blood bank at a local station.

The kind staff will register your details.

Then take a blood sample.

It didn’t hurt at all. Then you’re done. They even have free snacks.

So what are you waiting for? You could save someone’s life. With any luck, I’ll be a match for Aidan, all the money raised can go somewhere else and he’ll be on his way home soon. Fingers crossed.

Donors cannot choose to whom their donation goes. They will be called upon if and when a match is found. Blood type and other factors are irrelevant when registering as a donor – so please go ahead.

*Please note this means agreeing to all the conditions. You may need help from a Japanese speaker to read them all.

See here for an account of what it is like to donate bone marrow. You don’t need to do anything until contacted.