Bone marrow registry

Written by: 
Jessica DeLeón

Graham Douglas (’05) wants to save people’s lives — and he’s come up with a product and put on hot pants for the cause.
Douglas created the "help I’ve cut myself & I want to save a life" package that includes a bone marrow registry kit inside a box of bandages. When people cut themselves and reach for the bandages, they can put a couple of drops of blood on a cotton swab and then mail it in a postage-paid envelope addressed to the DKMS bone marrow registry.
The product is sold online and at retailers through Help Remedies.
The cause is personal for Douglas. His identical twin brother, Britton (’06), was diagnosed with leukemia 10 years ago and was saved by a stranger who had registered as a bone marrow donor.
"But I’m afraid my brother was one of the lucky ones," Douglas says. "I remember them talking about the odds of finding a match. It’s a 50/50 shot. All these years later that’s always stuck with me.
"For every guy like my brother out there, there’s another one who isn’t so lucky — another guy like me who doesn’t have a brother anymore."
Douglas — who studied advertising at UNT and works at the Droga5 advertising agency in New York City — appears in the video for the product, portraying a knife.
"We had almost no money for making this thing, so hiring a proper actor wasn’t exactly in the budget," he says. "I was the only one of us willing to take off my shirt on film, shave my chest and put on tiny, silver hot pants in the name of good."
Watch the video, buy the bandages, or register as a bone marrow donor.
 
 

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