rushali Ranadive knows that someone exists who can save her life. In April 1995, 10 months after she was diagnosed with chronic myelogenous leukemia, the National Marrow Donor Program (NMDP) located a perfect match for the 23-year-old Indian woman, who lives in Manhattan. Yet a few weeks later, Vrushali's worst fears came true. The potential donor decided not to proceed with the donation. "Without a donor, I don't have a chance to be cured," says Vrushali.She went online in October 1995, posting a Web page from which her smiling face stares out hopefully. Vrushali, who works at the J.P. Morgan brokerage firm, has joined countless people in the last few years who have taken to the Web in search of bone marrow donors. She wants to either find another donor online or track down the original prospect.
"Because the NMDP follows certain confidentiality rules, we are unable to know the name of this donor and establish direct contact," Vrushali says. "However, we may have a chance at reaching the donor or someone who knows him or her through this appeal."
The best chances for a donor match exist within the same ethnic group as the recipient, and since there are so few Indians in the registry, Vrushali has also been using her website to appeal for more donors of Indian and South Asian descent. She says that at least 10 Indian people in the United States currently share her plight. "About 100 people a day look at my page on the Web," she says, adding that she can only wonder about how many will actually do something to help.
