Bone marrow donors provide the gift of life.
Buckhead residents Trey Loughran and his wife, Lee, were devastated when their 2-year-old son, Jordan, was diagnosed with a rare form of leukemia in 2006 and needed a bone marrow transplant in order to survive. Fortunately, his 6-year-old sister, Khaki, was a match and his cancer went into remission.
Two years later, Jordan relapsed. Since no other family members were matches, they turned to Be The Match, a national registry of potential marrow donors. A donor was found in Chicago. Now, six years post-transplant, he is a healthy fifth-grader at Pace Academy.
Grateful for the support they received, the couple immediately became involved. “Jordan has been an ambassador for causes associated with leukemia at AFLAC and Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta, and Lee and I help raise funds and sign up donors,” Loughran says. “To join the registry, all it takes is a swab on the cheek.”
The couple continues to be heavily involved in Be the Match. Loughran, chief marketing officer at Equifax, serves on the national board. He and Lee are honorary chairs at the 2015 Atlanta Be the Match Soirée, a gala that takes place Sept. 19 at 6 p.m. at the Delta Flight Museum.
Loughran is also a member of the Southeastern Board of Operation Hope that provides financial literacy education to people in disadvantaged communities. “At Equifax, we feel it’s important to assist Operation Hope in its mission to help people participate in the credit economy and give them ‘silver rights.’”
For more information: bethematchfoundation.org, operationhope.org.
