On September 9, Texas Children’s Hospital hosted the fourth annual Lace Up 4 Life inpatient walk in honor of National Childhood Cancer Awareness Month.
Patients and staff on the Bone Marrow Transplant Unit participated in the walk on the inpatient and outpatient floor to raise awareness for Be The Match®, the largest and most diverse bone marrow registry in the world.
Patients on the unit are immunocompromised and were able to participate in the walk in a way that is safe as they undergo treatment. Each year, thousands of children are diagnosed with blood cancers like leukemia or lymphoma, sickle cell anemia or other life-threatening diseases. Seventy percent of people do not have a donor in their family and depend on Be The Match® Registry to find a match to save their life.
With a rotating disco ball projecting an array of bright colors on the walls of the unit, the Bone Marrow Transplant staff pumped up the crowd with high energy music while patient families and staff waved flags and cheered on our courageous patients as they crossed the finish line.
The inpatient walk preceded the first annual Lace Up 4 Life Walk/Run in Sugar Land on September 10 where Bone Marrow Transplant staff, patients and their families teamed up to represent Texas Children’s Hospital.
Texas Children’s Bone Marrow Transplant team dubbed “Team Transplantors” raised funds to support the Gulf Coast Marrow Donor Program and to raise awareness about childhood cancer. The donations will support patients who need a marrow or umbilical cord blood transplant to find a donor and receive treatment.
One of the most touching moments at the event was when a patient who underwent a bone marrow transplant at Texas Children’s met her bone marrow donor for the first time. Click here to watch the ABC-13 video. (It is the second video in the link.)