in memoriam
Sindi (Ahluwalia) Hawkins
Canadian Blood Services
Makoda Suen
To our daughter Makoda on Mother’s Day:
Mother’s Day is a special day; it’s a day to stop, remember and reflect on that special someone in our life who has made us who we are today. I always thought I would be that special someone for my daughter Makoda; but as it turns out – she is that special someone for me. For me, each day is Mother’s Day. I remember & cherish our brief time together and how each and every day she made me marvel at her strength, her courage and her will to always have time for a smile or to play. When you are told your child has cancer with very little hope of recovery; you look at each day as a gift; not waiting for those special days labelled Mother’s Day, Christmas or birthday; you accept and treat each day as an opportunity to make a life time full of memories.
On this Mother’s Day, I encourage you to give generously so that others may have an opportunity to make one more day full of life long memories.
David Smyth
David: “The doctors told us that many Canadians would not be dying (like me) from blood diseases like Leukemia if Canadians realized they could save a life and got tested. The testing is simple. The blood transfusion process to collect a donor's stem cells is also simple. No more big needle in hip. So go get tested and be available to save someone’s life!”
Carolyn Tam
Carolyn: "No Mom should spend one second of her time in life wondering if her children would die before her. Please register as a stem cell donor, save the broken hearts of the moms of the patients."
Nick “Schilly” Schilbach
In honour of Nick “Schilly” Schilbach, Jesse Plunkett President/Founder of HipHop Canada promoted OneMatch “rebranding” through a hip-hop event at Metropolis at Metrotown in November 2007. The event also promoted the change to stem cell registration by cheek swabbing. Although Nick had a related stem cell donor in his brother, he fully realized the much smaller chances of a stem cell match for his non-Caucasian “brothers” in hip-hop and advocated registration from the ethnically rich hip-hop community.
Katelyn Bedard
