DECATUR, Ill. (WAND) — Shae Althoff didn't think much of it at the time when she swabbed her cheek for Be The Match (NMDP) in 2014.
The Decatur native was a student at St. Louis University and her roommate at the time was organizing a Be The Match (NMDP) cheek swabbing event at the school.
"I feel like freshmen year, sophomore year, you get everything the good ol' college try," Althoff said.
She swabbed her cheek and then went on to complete her college career. Not thinking much about the swab as time went on, she eventually moved from Decatur to Minnesota, got married, and started her family.
"I thought oh I'll do this, you know liking signing up for a club and I honestly forgot I did it."
There are more than nine million people in the U.S. on NMDP's registry. The organization started over three years ago and focuses on delivering cell therapy to patients battling cancer and blood diseases.
"NMDP was created to manage the nation's registry of stem cell and marrow donors," said Erica Sevilla, Public Relations Manager for NMDP.
NMDP looks for people between the ages of 18 and 40 years old, who are willing to swab their cheek and submit a sample to be added to the registry.
As time passed Shae said she forgot about the swabbing her cheek. It was in the Fall of 2023 when she got a call that she was a potential match for a 41-year-old who has acute myeloid leukemia (AML).
"I just kind of related it to that could be my dad, that could be my uncle or somebody and I could help them. So, I was like okay, I have no choice this is what I have to do," she said.
Shae Althoff (Genebacher) donates stem cells in Oct. 2023.
In October 2023 NMDP Shae completed a few tests to make sure she was the perfect donor. It was just a couple of weeks later when she and her mother flew to Texas for the donor process.
"You don't hear about this a lot, and you forget there are even these opportunities," she said. "You hear about blood drives and blood shortages, but we never hear about donating stem cells or helping treat people with cancers and disorders like this."
After making her donation, Shae flew back to Minnesota and her life went back to normal. However, it was at the beginning of 2024 when she decided to post her experience on Facebook. She hoped her story of donation would encourage others to consider swabbing their cheek to join the registry.
"I had people from high school who sent me messages," she said. "It's been nice."
To learn more about NMDP or to sign up for a cheek swab click here.
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