Anyone in Korea with B negative blood?

22 April 2010 - Latest Update from Marie Frenette:


I am terribly sorry to deliver bad news, but just around 6:00pm today YooWoon passed away. We almost lost him earlier today, and thought he was going to pull through, but he slipped away quietly a little while later.We had an amazing show of support from the expats and Koreans a like. The donations we received surely helped prolong his life, but there were factors beyond our control.On behalf of YooWoon's family and myself, thank you once again for your tremendous support during this difficult time.
You are in our prayers YooWoon!
Marie



Just saw in my email this plea to help someone in Korea. I don't have the same blood type and I'm not residing in Korea but I hope some people who have and who are, will step forward to help. In case you're wondering why I'm labelling this post "Culture", well -I'm just keeping my fingers crossed that the spirit of volunteerism and cross-community help is a strong part of the expat and local communities in Korea. Will be keeping my fingers crossed for you, Yoo Woon.

"Dear Friends,


I am writing this note with the hope that anyone living in Korea with a blood type of B rh negative (B-) would be willing to help a 19 year old boy who has recently been diagnosed with lymphoma, a type of blood cancer. I went to visit him in the hospital today, and now have specific information about him.

His name is YooWoon Jeon and he just graduated from high school in February. He has been sick since last October, but was just diagnosed last week. He will require 5-6 chemotherapy treatments, every three weeks. After each treatment he requires 6 doses of platelet, a part of human blood. The problem is, his blood type (B-), is not at all common in Korea. B+ is quite common, but B- is not. If a B+ person gets B- blood, it can create problems. Platelet has a storage life of only one week, so its not easy to ship it from other countries.

There are 100's of thousands of expats in Korea, teachers, business people, engineers, etc... B- occurs much more reqularly in foreign populations than in Korea. That is why I am reaching out to you! Korea has given me so much, and I often wonder how I can return at least a little bit of it. This is one way. I happen to have B- so I went to the hospital today, and am scheduled to give the platelet on Monday. I will just lie down and while I watch a movie or chill out, my blood will be pumped into a machine that will take out the platelet and put the rest of my blood back into my body. The pain is about the same amount as getting a needle.

YooWoon just graduated from high school, and his dream is to go to Yonsei University. Instead, he is in the Yonsei Severence Hospital. If we can all come together, we can help him get back on his feet and he can get back to studying!

Please ask your friends to pass this info around.

His father is called Jay John in English, his Korean name is Jeon Jeong woo ( 전정우). His father works for the Korean branch of Cray Valley, a chemical company. His English is very good, so you wouldn't have to worry about communication issues.

He can be contacted at:

Jay

010-5048-7678
jeongwoo.jeon@crayvalley.com

If you have any additional questions, feel free to call me directly, 010-6801-0731.
Thanks so much for your time and please spread the word.

For your information:
Lymphoma
Lymphoma is a cancer that begins in the lymphocytes of the immune system and presents as a solid tumor of lymphoid cells. It is treatable with chemotherapy, and in some cases radiotherapy and/or bone marrow transplantation, and can be curable, depending on the histology, type, and stage of the disease (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lymphoma).

Platelet Donation
During a platelet donation, a small portion of your blood (less than one pint at a time), is drawn from your arm and passed through a sophisticated cell-separating machine. The machine collects the platelets and safely returns the remaining blood components, along with some saline, back to you. After the donation you can resume your normal activities, avoiding heavy lifting or strenuous exercise that day.

http://www.redcrossblood.org/donating-blood/types-donations/platelet-donation

from Marie"