MMD Newswire: Press Release News Wire

New York, NY (MMD Newswire) July 23, 2012 -- The Bone marrow Registry in Nigeria historically launched on February 24, 2012 as the first registry in Nigeria and the second registry in Africa. However, this registry has something very special apart of it--and that is Seun Adebiyi, who is a cancer survivor. Seun will appear on NPR radio today to speak of his new project and his story.

Only a few years ago, Seun was in need of a stem cell transplant to survive through a bone marrow or cord blood donor that matched his ethnic background. However, Seun, like many ethnic patients, have a limited amount of available volunteer donors because many ethnic groups are underrepresented on the National Registry, which makes such patients the circumstance even direr. Presently, there are five ethnic groups combined make up 28% of the National Registry for available bone marrow donors and 43% available for such patients through cord blood donors. An umbilical cord blood donor helped save Seun's life.

Seun Adebiyi in 2009, after graduating from Yale Law and in the midst of training for the 2014 Olympics, was diagnosed with two aggressive cancers - stem cell leukemia and lymphoblastic lymphoma. While battling this disease and going through treatment. Seun stayed focused on his goal of participating in the next Winter Olympics. In January 2010, he received an umbilical cord blood donation that saved his life. He is now focused on raising awareness amongst minorities about bone marrow and umbilical cord blood donation through the Bone Marrow Registry of Nigeria, while continuing to train for 2014 Winter Olympics in Russia. Seun is also the legal counsel for Preserve Our Legacy and continues to assist the organization with its shared plight of increasing awareness amongst minorities.

Preserve Our Legacy, Inc a 501(c) (3) not-for-profit, whose mission is to educate individuals, especially those from various ethnic groups, about the benefits of stem cells through treatment options provided via peripheral blood stem cells (PBSC), bone marrow and umbilical cord blood donations. The organization also spearheaded Jaden's Law to increase awareness about PBSC and bone marrow donation within various ethnic communities. Preserve Our Legacy launched the first educational program, P.O.L. Umbilical Cord Blood Program at Harlem Hospital in December 2010.

For more information about the Bone Marrow Registry of Nigeria log on to: http://bmrn.weebly.com.

For more information about Preserve Our Legacy log on to www.preserveourlegacy.org

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