Students getting swabbed in Carleton Place to save lives

Forget chocolates and flowers for Valentines Day. There's another way for guys to look good in the eyes of their loved ones: get swabbed. That's what dozens of gallant young students did in Carleton Place in the name of saving lives. "Getting swabbed" is a program run by Canadian Blood Services targeting young men in high school and university potentially to donate stem cells. It came to Carleton Place all because of a young female basketball player fighting for her life. The Carleton Place High School senior girls basketball team has played for years against Kingston player Mackenzie Curran. Last August, the 16-year-old was diagnosed with Myelodysplastic Syndrome, a blood disorder. She required a stem cell transplant. 17-year-old twins, Keisha and Teagan Simpson, who play for the Carleton Place team, organized a Get Swabbed event to help raise awareness of the need for donors.

"When we heard her situation, says Teagan Simpson, we just wanted to help and we knew this could affect any one of us.

Canadian Blood Services is bringing its "Get Swabbed" program into high schools and universities across the country looking specifically for young males between the ages of 17 and 35. They offer the best chance of success for patients in need of a stem cell transplant.

Males between the ages of 17 and 35 provide the best outcome for our patients post-transplant, says Jessica Stergiou, with Canadian Blood Services OneMatch Stem Cell and Marrow Network, the highest chance that those stem cells will take, that they will graft and the lowest instance of that patient developing graft vs. host disease.

Stergiou says the more young, healthy male they can get on the registry, the better the chances of saving more lives, We see the doors open and young guys jumping on board because they get (the fact )that they could be a hero, not just to their girlfriend or their mom but a hero to someone they've never met and save their life.

17-year-old Kristian Clarke signed up. His girlfriend thinks hes a hero.

I think its courageous, what hes going to be doing, says Carleton Place High school student Cherish Trimble. She, too, is getting swabbed. So is Grade 11 student Brad Brisson.

"It's kind of cool they're going after the age in high school and I get to help out.

The "swab" involves a large Q-tip, rolled over the inside of the cheek for about 20 seconds. It collects DNA samples that help determine a match between donors and patients. If there is a match, the actual process to retrieve the stem cells is similar to a blood donation, according to Jessica Stergiou.

It felt weird, says Grade 12 student Ryanna Baich, like having a mitten in your mouth for a minute.

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Students getting swabbed in Carleton Place to save lives