There are currently about 1000 Canadians waiting for a lifesaving stem cell treatment, and Blood Services Canada is hoping to recruit some potential matches this week as they visit two Saskatchewan campuses.

CBS spokesperson, Lisa Beechinor, says over 75 per cent of patients looking for a stem cell donor are matched with a complete stranger. Stem cell donors must be between the ages of 17 and 35, so CBS is heading to the Saskatchewan Polytechnic campuses in Saskatoon and Regina on February 8th. “It’s a cheek swab. So, we have four swabs, and you swab in different parts of your mouth. We put it in a nice little kit, we mail it off, and it goes into our national inventory where it’s tested and put in our stem cell registry. If you are a match for someone, you will get a call,” she notes.

She adds that the call could come one, five, or ten years down the road, or maybe not at all. However, if it does come, at that moment you are the only match for that patient. Contrary to popular misconceptions, Beechinor says most stem cell donations don’t involve surgery. Instead, participants will undergo a 90-minute process similar to blood donation, where the stem cells are taken out, and the blood component is returned to the donor.

Right now, there are about 1000 Canadians waiting for a lifesaving stem cell treatment. Beechinor says Canada is a richly diverse country, and a patient’s best chances of finding a match is to have diversity in the donor base, and men from an ethnically diverse or mixed-race backgrounds are most in need. “If you can’t attend the event, you can go to www.blood.caswabbingatschoolevent…and you’re able to order a kit. It can come to your house, you simply follow the instructions and drop it back in the mailbox,” Beechinor explains.