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LIMA — While many charitable causes are well-publicized, for many the word hasn’t quite gotten out there yet.
Jared Reichbaum, of Pittsburgh, is seeking to change that for people in need of bone marrow transplants.
Reichbaum began a coast-to-coast walk from Atlantic City, New Jersey, on April 14 and plans to finish sometime in October in San Francisco. Along the way, he is doing what he can to improve the odds for people in need of bone marrow transplants.
“A lot of people just don’t know about it,” Reichbaum said as he was journeying from Ada to Lima on state Route 81 Monday.
Along the way, Reichbaum has a simple swab kit that can take people’s DNA samples easily and painlessly. Each volunteer can register their sample to be cross-referenced for people seeking bone marrow transplants. Reichbaum is attempting to have 600 people registered by the end of his journey. Statistically, one out of every 540 people registered turn out to be a match.
“The chances are that one person’s life will be saved, Reichbaum said. “Hopefully, many more lives will be saved from the awareness.
Reichbaum’s mother, Debbie, contacted Connie Hornung with the Temple Beth Israel-Sharre Zedek, for a host family while he was in Lima. After arriving in Lima on Monday, Reichbaum stayed with Jade and Emily Kurland in Lima. They will return him to the exact spot where he was picked up to resume his walk today, heading toward Delphos. People can follow his journey and view photos of Reichbaum’s journey on http://theentireplanet.com.
Reichbaum was inspired by a friend who had Shulman’s syndrome, a rare disorder where the skin on the limbs become painfully inflamed and loses it’s elasticity. The friend found a match and a bone marrow transplant saved her life. However, he said the odds of those kind of happy endings needs to improve.
There are about 15,000 people every year in need of a bone marrow transplant,” Reichbaum said. “Of those, thousands will go without the transplant because they will never find a match.”
Reichbaum said overall he has enjoyed his journey, especially seeing the small towns and learning of their history. He said he has met lots of people and shared stories. Still, he has endured both cold and hot temparatures and having to dodge traffic once in a while.
“You have to pay attention to the traffic,” Reichbaum said. “I have seen a lot of people texting and not paying attention, swerving right over at me.”
