Rabbi makes no bones about the hard
Rabbi makes no bones about the hard cell By Jordan Baker July 16, 2005 When Rabbi Mendel Kastel addresses his congregation today, he will make an unusual request. A member of his synagogue, Howard Lesnie, has a life-threatening bone marrow disorder. His best chance of survival is a stem cell donation from someone in his ethnic group - another eastern European Jew. So Rabbi Kastel will call on the congregation of the Great Synagogue in Castlereagh Street to help Mr Lesnie and others like him by volunteering to become stem cell donors. They will be asked to have a blood test tomorrow at the Wolper Jewish Hospital, where they will be enrolled on the Australian Bone Marrow Donor Registry. Rabbi Kastel is expecting a strong response. "It's gotten to the stage that he won't come to the congregation when everyone else comes, because of his immune system. "Straightaway, the first thing that comes to mind is: let's try to get the community together to help out. Even if you're not a match for Howard, we would go on the international registry so we could help save someone in the future," he said. Advertisement AdvertisementMr Lesnie, 60, from Bondi, has already found a stem cell donor in Israel but he is hoping for one in Australia. "It would be faster. But we're not going to find it unless we get more people to go on the register," he said. The blood will be taken by a retired genetics specialist, Shula Endrey-Walder, who helps to recruit donors. If they are found to be compatible, stem cell donors give the equivalent of a double blood donation. The cells are taken and most blood is returned. Bone marrow is extracted from donors with a needle under a light general anaesthetic. More donors were desperately needed, Mrs Endrey-Walder said. "To date, no complications or long-term adverse side effects to donors have ever been reported. People who are donors, who do save somebody's life, feel they are in seventh heaven," she says. Mr Lesnie's myelodysplasia means his immunity is low, his blood cannot clot and he is constantly tired. "Probably half the people who get it are dead within six months, so I've done fairly well," he said. "It's really important the community pulls together. The rabbis are the ones who picked it up. It isn't so much about me any more; it's about the next person. It's a very easy thing and it's just so important." http://smh.com.au/articles/2005/07/15/1121429359362.html#
Rabbi makes no bones about the hard cell By Jordan Baker July 16, 2005 When Rabbi Mendel Kastel addresses his congregation today, he will make an unusual request. A member of his synagogue, Howard Lesnie, has a life-threatening bone marrow disorder. His best chance of survival is a stem cell donation from someone in his ethnic group - another eastern European Jew. So Rabbi Kastel will call on the congregation of the Great Synagogue in Castlereagh Street to help Mr Lesnie and others like him by volunteering to become stem cell donors. They will be asked to have a blood test tomorrow at the Wolper Jewish Hospital, where they will be enrolled on the Australian Bone Marrow Donor Registry. Rabbi Kastel is expecting a strong response. "It's gotten to the stage that he won't come to the congregation when everyone else comes, because of his immune system. "Straightaway, the first thing that comes to mind is: let's try to get the community together to help out. Even if you're not a match for Howard, we would go on the international registry so we could help save someone in the future," he said. Advertisement AdvertisementMr Lesnie, 60, from Bondi, has already found a stem cell donor in Israel but he is hoping for one in Australia. "It would be faster. But we're not going to find it unless we get more people to go on the register," he said. The blood will be taken by a retired genetics specialist, Shula Endrey-Walder, who helps to recruit donors. If they are found to be compatible, stem cell donors give the equivalent of a double blood donation. The cells are taken and most blood is returned. Bone marrow is extracted from donors with a needle under a light general anaesthetic. More donors were desperately needed, Mrs Endrey-Walder said. "To date, no complications or long-term adverse side effects to donors have ever been reported. People who are donors, who do save somebody's life, feel they are in seventh heaven," she says. Mr Lesnie's myelodysplasia means his immunity is low, his blood cannot clot and he is constantly tired. "Probably half the people who get it are dead within six months, so I've done fairly well," he said. "It's really important the community pulls together. The rabbis are the ones who picked it up. It isn't so much about me any more; it's about the next person. It's a very easy thing and it's just so important." http://smh.com.au/articles/2005/07/15/1121429359362.html#