True Scottish Blood
The Story of a Bone Marrow Transplant
In 1996, Sally Berriman of Colorado was diagnosed with acute myelogenous leukemia (AML), a cancer of the bone marrow that produces defective white blood cells. Without treatment, AML is usually fatal within a few weeks. After two years of conventional treatment, doctors told us that only an allogeneic bone marrow transplant (BMT) offered Sally a realistic hope of surviving her leukemia.
We immediately started a search for a possible bone marrow donor for Sally. Human tissue is classed by six major human leukocyte antigens (HLA). Each human inherits three HLA proteins from each parent. The HLA-A group includes 59 possible proteins, the HLA-B group includes 118 proteins, and the HLA-DR group includes 124 proteins. The chance of a HLA match between siblings is 25%, but the chance of matching other family members is far less. The chance of matching an unrelated person in the general population may range from more than 1 in 10,000 to less than 1 in 10,000,000. HLA matches are somewhat more common between persons of common regional ancestry.
The bone marrow of Sally's two sisters, her brother, and other relatives was tested, but none matched Sally's. We next searched the American Bone Marrow Donor Registry for a possible donor. We were very dismayed to find no matches among the more than three million Americans registered. Undaunted, we extended our search to the bone marrow registries of other countries. We eventually found a perfect match for Sally in the Canadian Bone Marrow Donor Registry.
On Tuesday, December 1, 1998, a Canadian nurse arrived at the Seattle-Tacoma International Airport with a cooler containing the bone marrow extracted from Sally's donor. The bone marrow was rushed to the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center and Swedish Hospital in Seattle. Sally received the life saving bone marrow later that evening.
Sally received extensive treatment for many months following her transplant. Sally still receives follow-up treatment for her transplant, but she is well today and remains cancer free.
The identities of bone marrow donors and their recipients are usually withheld from each other for a year or more due to mortality. After one year, Sally discovered that her donor was Colin Gilmour of Alberta, a Canadian man born in Scotland. Many of Sally's ancestors were also from Scotland.
The name Gilmour derives from the name of Ghille Mhuire, the founder of Clan Morrison. The Morrisons are a Norse clan that settled on the Isle of Lewis and the northwest coast of Scotland. Sally is a member of Clan Rose. The Roses are a Norman clan that settled near Kilravock in northern Scotland in the thirteenth century. While the proximity of Clan Morrison and Clan Rose is probably coincidental, it is entirely possible that Colin and Sally may share a common ancestor somewhere in antiquity.
One interesting result of an allogeneic bone marrow transplant is that the blood of the recipient becomes identical with the blood of the donor. People with matching bone marrow often have different blood types. Within a few weeks of her transplant, Sally's blood type changed to Colin's blood type. Now Sally is Clan Rose by ancestry, Clan Henderson by marriage, and Clan Morrison by blood.
For further information about registering as a potential bone marrow donor, please contact:
American
Bone Marrow Donor Registry
Australian Bone Marrow Donor
Registry
Anthony
Nolan Trust (UK)
British
Bone Marrow Registry
Canadian Blood Services Bone Marrow Donor Registry
Irish
Unrelated Bone Marrow Panel
Mexican Bone
Marrow Donor Registry
Welsh Bone Marrow Donor Panel
Bone Marrow Donors
Worldwide