Issue link: https://read.dmtmag.com/i/763593
50 nJanuary 2017n www.thunderpress.net THUNDER PRESS by Felicia Morgan WOODLAND, CALIF., JULY 16— Standing in the packed-to-the-gills parking lot of Kenny's Bar & Grill, I listened to the guys parked next to me as they introduced themselves and shook hands, one of whom had ridden in from a town about two hours north. "My buddy called me up yesterday and asked if I wanted to go on a poker run so I said sure, but I didn't realize it was going to be clear down here," he laughed. "Great ride through the farmlands for a good cause though, so, hey, it's a win-win." And that was the supportive attitude that would perme- ate the warm afternoon as riders came to the aid of a Northern California man in need. Chris Contreras, a 36-year-old husband and father of three young children, injured himself while playing racquetball early in 2015. In the pro- cess of healing, Chris got cellulitis and a staph infection. While doctors were busy trying to cure that, it was discov- ered that he was also dealing with a life-threatening blood disorder called aplastic anemia that will require a bone marrow transplant. His energetic and committed wife, Stacy, kicked into overdrive and set out to fi nd her husband a marrow match, which has proved to be much more diffi cult than one might think. Along the way the family has also learned a bit about giv- ing to others. Born and raised in the agricultural area of Woodland, where family values are still core to the more than 55,000 residents, Chris has become the recog- nizable face of the man the community has stepped up to fi ght for. The city cut his workload back to a more man- ageable level; he's curtailed his previ- ously active sports life, and is taking chemo treatments to battle the disorder even though aplastic anemia is not a cancer. Despite all that and additional medicines, his platelets continue to be at low levels as a donor match is sought out. Several different donor events have been held on his behalf as well as the recent poker run, but as of this writing, no donors have been com- patible. Chris is of Hispanic descent, which exacerbates the diffi culty of fi nding a match. The process is simply a matter of fi lling out paperwork and meeting the health and age require- ments of being between 18 and 44 years old, and submitting to a cheek swab. Painless and easy, testing was done right there in the parking lot for those who qualify and the results are then entered into a registry of donors. The information is then sent out to the 175 centers across the U.S. that are part of the Be a Match Registry. Donations cannot be assigned specif- ically to a certain patient and donors must be willing to donate to any patient on the list so, just because Chris hasn't found a match, that doesn't mean the efforts are in vain. As a matter of fact, through the dona- tions of the Contreras family's very fi rst donation drive a match was found for a 1-year-old baby girl. According to the information on the Be a Match website, the organi- zation continually strives to increase the size and ethnic diversity of the registry to improve the patient's chance for a cure, but many people of color still do not have a cure due to the sheer genetic diversity of each group. Chris's mother explained that the family is discovering that Hispanic donor's numbers are low. "We think it's just about education; Hispanics simply don't know about this. We're trying to get the word out on how important donating is. We're going to go to the churches next," Victoria shared. "Everyone needs to know about donating, no matter what your genetics are, but just because you may not qualify due to age, you can still TEAM CHRIS POKER RUN Paying it forward Get involved; save a life Volunteers signed up to donate bone mar- row. Matches are found all over the world through the Be a Match registry. Bruce won low hand while riding his Spyder Can-Am, the only one on the run Volunteers stepped up for cheek swabs, the process used to fi nd matches for bone marrow donations. Chris (c) is fl anked by Sacramento Kings dancers (l to r) Daphne, Courtney, Chanel, and Jenna