By Anthony Gottschlich
Dayton Daily News (Ohio)
Copyright 2006 Dayton Newspapers, Inc.
DAYTON, Ohio — Nearly 200 volunteers, mostly Dayton police and firefighters, turned out for a blood drive last week to honor Courtney King, a 9-year-old Dayton girl who received a blood stem cell transplant Wednesday in her fight against a rare bone marrow disorder.
Of 199 volunteers, 87 gave blood at the Community Blood Center downtown and 112 registered with the National Marrow Donor Program, more than double the CBC’s goal, said Marilyn Staker, CBC Bone Marrow Coordinator.
“It was such an honor to work with these people last week,” Staker said. “They’re such heroes. It really touched my heart how many came in.”
Helping the drive were Courtney’s ties to the police and fire departments. Her father, Scott King, is a police officer and her great uncle, Tim Goecke, is a firefighter.
An informal competition between the departments to see which group could register more potential marrow donors led to the turnout last week, Staker said, with police edging firefighters 67-45.
Courtney, a fourth-grader at St. Peter Catholic School in Huber Heights, suffers from severe aplastic anemia, which prevents her bone marrow from producing enough new blood cells.
The disorder leaves its victims fatigued and at higher risk for infections and uncontrolled bleeding. The only cure is a marrow-blood stem cell transplant from a matched donor.
Courtney found a match in little sister Madison, 5. They underwent the transplant Wednesday at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center.
The procedure’s success remains to be seen, but it was the latest in a trying month for Courtney’s family. Her grandmother, Sherry Brown of Centerville, underwent open heart surgery Oct. 6. Courtney’s family also is trying to move into a new home.
But amid the turmoil, the community has rallied, said Brown, a nurse at Good Samaritan Hospital. Besides police and firefighters, Brown said neighbors, friends, doctors and nurses - too many to list here - have chipped in, moving, painting and providing meals for the family.
“They’re precious, absolute precious people,” Brown said. “If anyone ever says anything bad about the city of Dayton, they’ll have to listen to me.”