T-Boz Recruits Donors As Part of African-American Bone Marrow Awareness Month

Tionne “T-Boz” Watkins uses her voice to help African-American patients

The former TLC member was diagnosed with sickle cell disease as a child and suffers from arthritis. “Y’all know, I’m also fighting for myself as well,” she said Wednesday at the National Marrow Donor Program council meeting. “I want to grow old and live to see my grandchildren.”

She is partnering with Be The Match® to help recruit more blacks to join the match registry as committed members. Take this opportunity to view the stats below and just consider what you can do to make a difference.

• Every year, more than 10,000 patients in the nation are diagnosed with life-threatening diseases for which the best option for a cure can be a bone marrow transplant.
• Approximately 70 percent of patients in need of transplant do not have a matching donor in their family.
• Only 7 percent of the 8 million potential donors on the national registry are African American.

 Find out what you can do to help at Be The Match.