Marrow donor drive honors boy, 10, lost to leukemia

Sunrise Children's Hospital is hosting a marrow donor drive today from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. in honor of Brandon Rayner, a 10-year-old Las Vegas boy who died Dec. 24 of leukemia.

Before his death, Brandon had collected nearly 1 million business cards in his pursuit to be in the Guinness Book of World Records. The marrow drive will take place in the hospital's lobby at 3186 South Maryland Parkway.

Potential donors must be in good health, between ages 18 and 60, and willing to donate to anyone. They will be checked with a swab from the cheek for tissue typing.

The cost of tissue typing, typically $52, will be waived.

Tissue types will be added to the National Marrow Donor Program's registry, which doctors use to find donors for their patients.

Oscar Correa, senior account executive for the National Marrow Donor Program, said there are up to 30 people in Nevada awaiting a marrow transplant. About 6,000 are awaiting transplants across the country, he said. About one-third of them are children.

Marrow is used for people with leukemia, lymphoma and other life-threatening blood disorders.

For more information, call 731-8741 or the National Marrow Donor Program toll free at 800-627-7692.