- A community effort is underway in Northeast Tallahassee to find a bone marrow donor for local FAMU professor Ancil Carruthers, who has a rare blood cancer.
- Carruthers faces challenges in finding a match due to a shortage of diverse donors, with only 29% of Black patients able to find suitable matches.
- Local friend Andrea Stephens is organizing donor recruitment drives, resulting in 249 new potential donors joining the registry.
- Watch the video to see how community members strongly support Carruthers, emphasizing the importance of helping one another during tough times.
BROADCAST TRANSCRIPT:
A community effort to save the life of a fellow neighbor.
I’m Kenya Cardonne in the Northeast Tallahassee neighborhood.
We’re hearing from a FAMU professor battling a rare blood cancer after hundreds of neighbors have joined a mission to find him the donor match he needs for a life-saving transplant.
Ancil Carruthers, Has Cancer - “It was in the morning, I was brushing my teeth when I got the phone call.”
A life-changing phone call.
Ancil Carruthers describes how he felt when he found out he had a rare blood cancer called Hepatosplenic T-Cell Lymphoma.
Carruthers - “It was tough, probably one of the toughest punches I've ever taken in my life.”
We first told you about this FAMU pharmacy professor and his Tallahassee family on May 1st. He needs a bone marrow transplant to survive, but is struggling to find a donor match due to a shortage of black donors.
NE Tallahassee neighbor, FAMU team up to save professor with rare cancer
It’s what sparked their good friend Andrea Stephens to host local donor recruitment drives, where neighbors can safely join the marrow match pool.
I stopped by Sunday’s drive at Celebration Church, where 65 neighbors joined the pool for a chance to save Ancil’s life.
Inika Williams, Neighbor - “We're all one. We're a community. And again, if I can help save a fellow Leon County/Tallahassee neighbor, then I absolutely will step up to do that.”
Dominic Christian Larry, Neighbor - “Honestly, I think that's what we're supposed to be doing here on this earth, I think just to serve one another.”
Between local events and online recruitments, there are now 249 new bone marrow donors on the registry.
A mind-blowing number for Stephens.
Andrea Stephens, Friend - “I’m grateful, I'm overwhelmed, and I'm grateful for the support that everybody's providing my friend.”
And astonishing news for the Carruthers.
Ancil Carruthers - “It's just been so encouraging to see how much love and support we have from family, friends, local community, colleges, universities, everyone in our area.”
AJ Carruthers, Ancil's Son - “It's like amazing to see, like, how many people actually care about people. It's just.. love is just so strong.”
Natalie Carruthers, Ancil's Wife - “We actually have hope for the first time in a long time. So it's been really great. So thank you.”
They tell me even if the boost in pool recruitments helps someone else find a donor match, it’d still mean the world to them.
But it’s clear the community wants a win for this family.
Williams - “I will keep you all in my prayers, and I believe that you will receive a match.”
Larry - “We're all praying for y'all, rooting for him, no matter what, I hope we all can do something for him.”
Experts tell us 90% of donor matches only have to undergo non-surgical blood donation procedures.
If you missed this weekend’s events, you can still join the match pool by ordering a free swab kit online.
In Northeast Tallahassee, Kenya Cardonne, ABC 27.
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