On-campus Event Leads to Life Saving Donation

When Kailyn Dewey, a third-year nursing student at the University of Minnesota Rochester signed up to be a donor through the National Marrow Donor Program (NMDP), formerly known as Be the Match, at a tabling event on campus she had no idea that she’d get a call just eight months later telling her she was a match. Her recipient, an elderly cancer patient. 

This collaborative, two-day event hosted by students in UMR’s Pre-Professional Club and Community Engagement Club partnered with NMDP to register donors in hopes of finding matches to patients who suffer from life-threatening blood cancers. The two clubs far surpassed their initial goal of 50 sign-ups with a total of 154 students, faculty, staff and community members joining the donor registry, Dewey being one of them.

“They were handing out donuts and stickers to those who signed up, and promised that people would rarely get picked… I was shocked and surprised when I was notified I had been selected, but knew that I wanted to donate,” shared Dewey. 

After confirming with NMDP that she would be donating, Dewey underwent a few months of preparation. This included blood draws and physical assessments to ensure that she was fit to donate as well as medication injections to induce increased marrow production. Typically, these shots are administered by a NMDP contracted nurse, but because Dewey is a nursing student, she was able to administer them herself. 

The first shot she ever gave was to herself. In reflecting on the process, Dewey said that she felt this experience will help her understand patients better when she administers shots in the future. 

When it came time for the donation, Dewey says that was the easy part. After all, she was saving a person’s life. Organized by NMDP, Dewey traveled to Zion, Illinois in January with all expenses paid to complete her donation. 

The donation process took six hours and consisted of two IV lines - one line to take the blood out and send it through a machine to filter out stem cells, and another line that returned the blood back. Dewey recalls that the most painful part of the process was the side effects from the pre-donation medication, not the donation itself. “The worst side effect of this medication was bone pain. The bones in my lower back and the back of my head hurt a lot during the injections. But looking back, I would do it all again with no hesitation,” she shared.

The most memorable part of the experience however was the connection she felt to her grandfather, who was a cancer patient himself. Dewey shared that he was the same age as her patient when he passed away. He was the reason Dewey pursued a nursing education. All of these small signs made it feel like it was all meant to be.

It’s not every day that a tabling event on campus leads to an experience like Dewey’s, but at a health sciences focused institution, you never know. When Dewey signed up her immediate goal was to get a donut. Little did she know it would turn into an experience she will never forget. An experience that both positively impacted her personally and contributed to her growth as a future nurse. 

Jenny Casper, previous Director of Community Engagement & Career Development at UMR shared how passionate the UMR student leaders who organized this event were. Three seniors at the time, now alumni Isaac Crowe, Brianna Dubrey and Emma Hoff led the planning process with UMR alumni, Brianna Boland and her colleagues, Brianna works as a Workup Specialist in Donor Services for the organization. “It was incredibly energizing to support UMR student leaders and one of our alumni in making this event happen, they truly were the ones who created the excitement and energy on-campus that has led to this impact.”

“I highly encourage anyone who is able to sign up to be a donor! Like they told me, people rarely get picked, I just happened to get lucky,” Dewey shared.