Imagine saving someone’s life. Imagine knowing that someone, somewhere, is dying and that a simple donation to the Inland Northwest Blood Center could save that person’s life.

Imagine no more. It can happen.

On April 27-28, students at Mead High School took advantage of that opportunity in their second annual Spring Blood Drive. This year, something new was thrown in.

“This year the students were approached by the blood center to make a difference by donating bone marrow,” said Randy Mickelson, Mead’s ASB adviser.

It’s the first time a high school has ever had a bone marrow drive along with its blood drive. Mead students and staff donated 170 units of blood and 44 people signed up to be tested as potential marrow donors, which can save the lives of people with some types of cancer.

Senior Christopher Hudson was one of them.

“It’s a gift that I could give someone that might make them live a few days or years longer,” he said. “I really didn’t even have to think about it. I felt almost obligated to do it because there’s so much need.”

Still, the idea of donating bone marrow had some people nervous.

“There were a lot of misconceptions about it,” said senior Emily Thompson, who helped organize the drive. “People think they’re going to drill in and take the bone marrow that day; they think they’re going to be in serious pain.

“It takes some clearing up, but once we got past that people were really excited about it.”

Donating bone marrow may sound like a painful experience, but in the early stages, it’s actually just like giving blood.

“We just take two extra vials of blood so we can identify tissue type, also known as HLA type (human leukocyte antigens),” explained Laura Oiland of the blood center.

“After that, your type is listed in a computerized data base which is linked with the National Marrow Donor Program.”

But the odds of finding a match with your HLA type are between one in 100 and one in a million.

You have to be between 18 and 55 to donate marrow. The younger you are, the better chance you’ll have at finding a match.

If you’re chosen to be a donor, the marrow is removed from the back of your pelvic bone by a needle and syringe. Around one liter of bloodlike fluid is collected. Most donors experience a little pain in the lower back area for a few days but during the procedure they are under anesthetic. It takes the donor’s body two to six weeks to replace the marrow.

To ease the fears of students and staff who wanted to donate, Thompson and other students arranged a pizza party where a guest speaker talked about his experience with donating bone marrow.

“He said it was the most positive thing he had ever done in his life,” said Thompson. “Just to know you could save a person’s life, it’s a really cool thing.”

It’s also a great way to help with the fight against cancer, especially when we feel unable to help friends and relatives suffering from it.

“By putting yourself on the registry, you’re making a big commitment to help someone,” said the center’s Libby Granier.

“At the very least, your gift is hope,” said Oiland. “At the best, it is life.”