More than 900 rally to support wingman's cause

  • Published
  • By Airman 1st Class Justin Veazie
  • 18th Wing Public Affairs
KADENA AIR BASE, Japan --  Team Kadena registered more than 900 potential bone marrow donors in a bid to try to save one of their own.

More than 20 squadrons and community organizations like the Airmen Committed to Excellence volunteered more than 100 hours at nine registration sites during the five-day campaign Sept. 4-9.

"We got way more participation than I thought we would," says Capt. Jan Kolenda, 18th Medical Support Squadron chief of laboratory services and marrow drive organizer. "We received somewhere between 900 and 1,000 bone marrow kits, so I would say it was a big success."

The bone marrow drive came about shortly after hearing the struggle of Lt. Col. Ryan Keeney, an F-15 Eagle pilot formerly assigned to Kadena, who is battling myeloid leukemia and desperately needs a bone marrow transplant. An initial "match" in the national bone marrow donor registry turned out to be himself, which was invalid. Just recently, however, Keeney found a valid match.

"Lt. Col. Keeney's situation was the initial motivation for us to put the registration drive together," explained Maj. Scott Gunn, 18th Operations Support Squadron chief of wing weapons and tactics and marrow drive organizer. "He and his family received the good news a couple of weeks ago that a viable match had been found. However, we thought the registration drive was still a vital cause that has allowed Team Kadena to offer more than 900 more chances of life for the thousands who search for a match every day. Both he and his wife and family have expressed their thanks to all of the Kadena Airmen for their support."

On Sept. 4, volunteers went to different units informing people of the national registry and solicited donors for the Department of Defense C.W. Bill Young Marrow Donor Program. From Sept. 7-9 the volunteers set up registration booths at nine different locations, such as the Commissary or the Exchange.

In the beginning of the campaign it was hard to get donors, but the event coordinators and volunteers put in more than 100 hours to spread the word and help the cause.

"Donating bone marrow is a big deal," said Senior Airman Taniah Otis, 18th Medical Support Squadron laboratory technician and ACE president. "I just wanted to do my part (by volunteering) to contribute as much as possible."