Village Brewery swab-a-thon recruits male stem cell donors

As dozens of men toured a brewery, tasted beer and swabbed the inside of their cheeks at Calgarys Village Brewery on Saturday, Al Carpenter was at home recovering from a stem-cell transplant.

For weeks, Village co-founder Jim Button and Carpenters brother Steve had been organizing a Swab-a-Thon event in an effort to locate a stem cell match for Carpenter, who is a longtime friend of Buttons and an Ottawa father who has a rare form of leukemia.

On Friday, the day before Village was set to host the donor drive targeting men aged 18 to 35, Carpenter was in hospital undergoing a stem-cell transplant after a near-perfect match was found.

The 49-year-old married father of two girls under 10 was diagnosed last December with acute lymphoblastic leukemia, a rare blood cancer that usually strikes children.

The fact Carpenter found a stem cell match in the days before the Calgary event only emphasizes just how important Canadian Blood Services OneMatch stem cell and bone marrow donor program is, said Button.

Now it becomes a conversation about the fact that out of 22 million people (worldwide in the registry), he didnt have a match, then all of a sudden, one day, something shows up. Button said.

The happy ending to Carpenters months-long search for a stem cell match is proof that adding new donors to the OneMatch program saves lives, said both Button and Carpenters brother Steve.

This is a life-saving necessity for leukemia and blood cancer patients. Without a stem-cell transplant they will die, said Steve Carpenter.

Cassandra DeLuca, territory manager for Canadian Blood Services, said its not the first time a match has been found while a Swab-a-Thon event is in the works.

Its a win-win situation because it means one patient has found a match and as more people sign up for the registry, other patients stand a chance at also finding a match.

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Village Brewery swab-a-thon recruits male stem cell donors