Jason Momoa - 'Be the Match' national bone marrow donor programme

The Healthcare Professionals Club at Brigham Young University in Hawai'i teamed up with 'Be the Match' (a US national marrow donor program) and hosted Hawai'ian actor Jason Momoa last week.

Momoa is spear heading the 'Be the Match' campaign to get people to come out, swab their cheeks, and see if they have the right blood for others who are searching for their match.  He started advocating for this after learning his close friend Travis Snyder is battling acute myeloid leukemia and is in need of a blood stem cell transplant.

Hundreds came out to the university campus for a chance to meet Jason Momoa and see if they could potentially save a life.  The Aquaman star was greeted by students and the community at a bone marrow testing site.

In the photos below, he is holding a young Hawaiian boy named Ryder who is also in need of a blood cell stem transplant.

Jason was emotional while holding him as he addressed the volunteers and workers saying "I get emotional when I think about it and even if it's my kids or your kids, or your cousins or my cousins, it doesn't take much, you just gotta swab a cheek man and you can save some lives ... to Polynesia, thank you for showing up" 

On Instagram, a user responded to BYU–Hawaii’s post about the event: “Thank you BYU Hawaii for hosting this event. Rhyder and my family felt the warm welcome and aloha from all of you. This event will spread more awareness on the lack of Asian-American and Pacific Islander donors on the registry. It is such a blessing knowing over 350 people joined the registry. This brings us a step closer to finding Rhyder’s match and this also gives hope to many others still searching. Thank you again.”

The BYU-Hawai'i campaign helped to increase awareness about the “Be the Match” registry and helped over 350 individuals swab and join the registry list.

For our US Pacific Islanders - Swab a cheek, join the registry list, and see if you can be a superhero to someone in need. 

Click the link here for more details 

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