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Two-Time Heisman Trophy Winner Archie Griffin
Headlines “Take a Test Save a Life” Bone Marrow
Fundraiser
By Brenda Aghahowa
It was a star-studded evening indeed. Some 750 persons packed
Toledo’s Stranahan Hall one evening last November for a TAKE A TEST SAVE A
LIFE gala to raise money to provide free testing for volunteer bone marrow
donors. Two-time Heisman Trophy winner Archie Griffin headlined the event,
which grossed a whopping $68,753 in a single night.
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| John Decker Jr. (seated, second from left)
and Josh Decker (seated, fourth from left), celebrate with their friends, who
helped out at the benefit. |
The fundraiser, sponsored by a Warren Reuther Foundation
committee, Kroger Company and St. Vincent Hospital, was one of several bone
marrow donor drives in the Monroe County, Michigan and Toledo, Ohio area that
came together in just six months’ time as the result of a Lambertville,
Michigan family’s struggle with an immunodeficiency disease.
The Deckers’ Journey with Wiskott-Aldrich Syndrome
Thirty-seven-year-old Donna Decker says two of her three sons,
John Jr. and Joshua, were diagnosed with Wiskott-Aldrich Syndrome as infants.
Now 18 and 16, the two boys have been in and out of hospitals all their
lives.
“We’ve been all over with them to see different
doctors,” says Decker, a full-time homemaker. She says she’s touched
base with at least 35 different doctors, some in Italy and Germany via the
Internet. She was led to others through medical reports.
John Jr. has had the most trouble. “The first scare we had
was pneumonia,” says Decker, who, along with real estate broker husband
John, is also the parent of 14-year-old son Tyler and a 15-month-old daughter.
He’s had tubes in his ears, several sinus surgeries and a hernia repair
twice, she adds. Now he receives intravenous immune globulin every two weeks to
help his immune system fight infection.
Younger brother Joshua has been more fortunate. In June, 1999, he
had a bone marrow transplant at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor.
“It’s a miracle,” says Decker, who believes he is cured.
“There are no more bloody noses or bruises.”
John Jr. has been searching for a donor for nearly a year.
Although younger brother Tyler was the donor for Joshua, he was not a match for
John Jr.—a source of emotional pain for Tyler.
“He would have liked to have donated to both brothers,”
says Decker, “but there’s a donor out there somewhere for John
Jr.”
Making Lemonade Out of Life’s Lemons
With this thought in mind, the Deckers established an initial
committee of two men, brother-in-law Alfred Prieur and family friend Doug
DeArmond, in the summer of 1999. Attorney Kim Kuhn and a few others soon joined
the group for a total of six, and more people have expressed interest in
joining. Michigan philanthropist Warren Reuther took the committee under his
foundation’s wing to give it tax-exempt status.
The results of the committee’s efforts have been impressive.
They’ve contacted celebrities, launched several donor drives that have
recruited approximately 1,500 people, publicized the need for marrow donors in
print and broadcast media outlets in the Toledo area, and organized the gala
event at the Stranahan Hall.
Stranahan Gala
“This first fundraiser was overwhelming,” says Decker. A
$25 ticket provided admission to the Stranahan, one of the largest theaters in
Toledo, where acts such as Garth Brooks and River Dance have performed.
The event featured a spaghetti dinner, catered by a Kroger grocery
store in the area, an auction of sports memorabilia, jewelry, artwork and other
items, as well as the keynote address by football’s heralded Archie
Griffin.
“He [Griffin] talked about competition and how John Jr. can
win his fight against this disease just like he wins his baseball games,”
says Decker. There were three other major athletes present at the event,
including boxer Melvin Harrison, she adds.
Twelve of John Jr.’s high school classmates helped throughout
the evening, getting auction items ready, taking them through the crowd so that
they could be seen, and cleaning up. “We couldn’t have managed
without them, says Decker appreciatively. “When his friends turn 18, they
want to be tested as marrow donors.”
On the Horizon
A golf-with-a-celebrity event is planned for the spring, as well
as another fundraiser in November. The funds from these events will cover the
$60 blood test fee for each person who volunteers to be a marrow donor. The
Take-A-Test committee members also plan to contact Ford Motor Company and other
major companies to enlist their support in recruiting marrow donors.
Decker has found it rewarding to spread the word about becoming a
bone marrow donor. “Just to see the sparks of interest and awareness that
we are raising is so exciting. So many people say ‘We didn’t
know.’”
A New Twist
Recently the family learned that John Jr.’s marrow type is
not typically seen in Caucasians. “We’re told it’s more common
among Native Americans,” says Decker. That’s where the family will
now focus their donor recruitment efforts.
As for John Jr., he says he hates to be the center of attention.
“But I want people to understand the importance of becoming a donor,”
he adds. “It’s for the benefit of all the people who need a bone
marrow transplant.” |
