A Cross Country Quest for Marrow Donors

When Sam Kimura was diagnosed with the rare blood disorder aplastic anemia, she began seeking a bone marrow donor to treat her disease. Her sister Alex was more likely than someone not related to her to be a match, but testing showed she wasn’t. Not willing to passively wait for a match, the two embarked on a cross country trip to raise awareness for bone marrow transplants and encourage people to register for a database of potential donors. We spoke to Alex Kimura, executive director of Sharing America’s Marrow, about her cross country journey with her sister, the response they’ve gotten, and how they are changing people’s perception of what it takes to make a potentially life-saving bone marrow donation.