Hope Chapel Kahaluu reaches out for bone marrow donors

KAHALUU—An elderly couple embraces peacefully after rediscovering their love decades later. The credits roll with flying swans in the backdrop. It’s the ending to the film The Notebook, starring Ryan Gosling and Rachel McAdams.

For a young Windward couple, the story is also their dream. Maria (Shelly) Lagpacan and fiancé Shaun Sutherland’s hope to one day star in a lifelong love like the one captured on the silver screen. Friends, family, and church members are reaching out to the community to make that happen.

“The Notebook is my favorite movie; it just touches my heart,” Shelly says. “It’s about two young lovers whose love lasts forever.”

Shelly was recently diagnosed with sickle cell anemia and needs a matching bone marrow donor to help save her life. Hope Chapel Kahaluu is holding an event at their church this Sunday, July 11, from 8:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m., to register and find matching donors. Eldean Kukahiko, pastor for the church, is organizing the event. 

“Shelly is a member of our church and she had mentioned that a bone marrow transplant would be helpful,” Kukahiko said. “I worked with the Bone Marrow Registry and our church, and they were all in favor of doing everything possible to help her. Specifically, the registry will be taking samples inside the church before and after the service. The service runs from 9:30 a.m. to 11:00 a.m., and a representative from the registry will speak during the service. The event is not only to find donors but to help educate people about donating.” 

Registering as a donor takes less than 10 minutes and no blood sample is required. It’s as simple as filling out a form and doing a cheek swab. Donors have to be between the ages of 18 and 60 and meet certain health guidelines.

Ferdie Gabat, a recruiter specialist for the Hawaii Bone Marrow Registry, emphasizes the importance of getting people to register because it increases the chances of finding matches. 

“The hard part is that the chances of finding a bone marrow match are largely based on your ethnicity,” Gabat says. “We have about 8 million people that are registered nationally, and 6 million are Caucasian. So if you are Caucasian, your chances of finding a match are about 80 percent.  If you are African-American, Asian, Polynesian or Hispanic, your chances of finding a match go down to 15 percent. Multi-ethnic people have a less than 8 percent chance of finding a match.” 

Even then, Gabat says it’s “disheartening” because only 50 percent of the people who are matches actually go through the next process—mostly because they have misconceptions that the actual donating and extraction process is a painful one. Gabat explains: “When a donor has bone marrow extracted, they are under general anesthesia. There is only slight muscle soreness when they wake up. To add to this, now, you can actually donate your marrow through stem cell. Basically, blood is drawn from your arm and ran through a machine that extracts the marrow. So if you’re thinking of registering, please don’t back out; be willing to fully commit to it,” says Gabat.

Nevertheless, Shelly has remained hopeful. “For me, sometimes my sickness is discouraging,” Shelly says. “But I really believe in my heart that everything happens for a reason. I have a strong faith and feel that everything is going to be okay.”

Moreover, Shelly leads an active life—despite the chronic fatigue that comes with her illness. At 22 years old, she is attending Hawaii Pacific University and plans to graduate next semester with her Bachelor’s degree in Psychology. From there, Shelly plans to go to graduate school at the University of Hawaii at Manoa and get her master’s degree in psychology. All the while, Shelly works two jobs: one at the Domestic Abuse Shelter as a Substance Abuse Specialist and the other as a youth specialist at the Easter Seals of Hawaii. 

Shelly also makes time for extracurricular thing activities, such as going to the beach, hiking, shopping, watching movies, and mostly spending time with her fiancé, family, and friends.

Kukahiko sees Shelly as a role model and inspiration to many. He says simply: “She is going through a very difficult battle at a young age and still has a positive attitude. Shelly is a great example for all of us.”

“Shelly is the best person I know,” her fiancé Shaun says. “She has a pure heart and is always caring and helping others. She’s always joyful, even after her health problems and the unfortunate events that have happened in her life.”

Altogether, Kukahiko urges people to come to the event this Sunday and help.

“Everybody should come out. You’ll feel good about it.  It’s a win-win situation,” he says.

Gabat adds” “To be a match and donate is an awesome thing—to say that you actually saved someone’s life. There’s a match for Shelly out there; she has her whole life ahead of her.”

For more information about being a donor, call the Hawaii Bone Marrow Registry at (808) 547-6154 or visit the National Bone Marrow Registry website at www.marrow.org.

Bone Marrow Registry donor search
Sunday, July 11, from 8:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m.
Hope Chapel Kahaluu
47-237 Waihee Road