Every year, the Ithaca College Office of Intercollegiate Athletics hosts a “Be the Match” bone marrow drive to recruit potential blood stem cell donors. This year, the Sept. 19 drive took on an added significance, showing support for Jack Dembow ’77, a member of the Ithaca College Board of Trustees, who is in need of a bone marrow transplant.
The college once again partnered with the National Marrow Donor Program to make this campaign possible. Susan Bassett ’79, director of intercollegiate athletics, said that the bone marrow drive is always a special occasion and that being able to support Dembow is important for the college and its volunteers.
“I am sincerely grateful for the opportunity for IC Athletics to step up for this important need,” Bassett said. “I pray that our community will provide the match for Trustee Dembow. He does so much for IC and I hope we can be there for him in his time of need.”
Dembow said that he appreciated the college’s commitment to the drive, and that shedding light on this subject will continue to provide support to those who are battling low blood cell counts for different reasons.
“I think that it’s fantastic and as I’ve said to a lot of people, it’s highly unlikely that anyone I know is going to be a match for me,” Dembow said. “It’s not about the possibility of finding a match for me, but supporting a broad system that really offers some hope and possibility to countless others over the years. That’s the most impressive part of this. For the college, I don’t know how to thank you, the support for doing this — they’re not just doing this for me, but thousands of people.”
Dembow has been battling low numbers of red and white blood cells over the past few years, when he was recently diagnosed with Myelodysplastic syndromes. The rare disease happens when the bone marrow cannot produce enough healthy red or white blood cells to maintain higher levels of activity.
“Over the years, I’ve had bone marrow biopsies, and they’ve been really inconclusive until this May,” Dembow said. “It’s a rare type of bone marrow cancer, and there’s no traditional treatments available. I was talking to President Cornish, and she mentioned that every year, IC athletics hosts a ‘Be the Match’ drive, and I didn’t know a lot about it until recently.”
Maybelline Amaya, member recruitment coordinator of the NMDP, said that having the opportunity to work with students and seeing their enthusiasm towards raising awareness for the event is a rewarding experience.
“I’ve been doing this for about three years, and it’s always good to see different student-athletes get involved, especially when it’s more than just one team,” Amaya said. “You see people who are pretty receptive to the information they are getting and how they can relay it to their friends and peers.”
Amaya said the team stresses bringing more awareness to NMDP and its goals of finding matches for those in need.
“We work tirelessly to bring more advocacy to NMDP and the mission,” Amaya said. “We have switching patients across the nation that are actively looking for somebody to save their lives. Just meeting patients and their families, you want to do everything you can to support them in finding a match.”
Senior tennis player Daniel Borenius, one of many student-athlete volunteers for the drive, said being an athlete in college allows students to connect with the community at times and, in moments like this, give back to the people.
“Being a student-athlete, we have a lot of perks, and we get to play the sport that we love and are passionate about,” Borenius said. “It’s really an honor to be on a team like this as part of a way to give back and help other people and do something good for the community.”
To eliminate any doubts of no cure, Dembow said that maintaining a positive mindset and focusing on hobbies that make him happy have helped him transition through a tough period.
“I have been going to chemotherapy, and it really keeps the cancer at bay, but it doesn’t cure it until I can get the transplant,” Dembow said. “I’ve always had a really great attitude, and I keep my mind busy with other things like friends. I do a lot of walking, and I try to project — not about my impending hospitalization— but about what life is going to look like after I recover, which could take a year.”
In hopes of inspiring those in similar positions, Dembow said no matter where people are at in their transplant process, their match will come with time.
“I think that thanks to the thousands of people who have done cheek swabs around the world, somebody out there is going to be a match for you,” Dembow said. “It may not happen in month one or six, but someone out there is going to be that match, and you will be as optimistic as I am that the outcome will be fantastic.”
Registration to donate can be found at the NMDP website, free of charge.
