Last school year, our beloved English teacher Cheryl Watters, was diagnosed with Acute Leukemia. As her GoFundMe states: “Cheryl Watters is many things: Wife and mom of two, English and history teacher, baker, bookworm, eternal optimist, and one of the kindest souls you will ever meet. In April of 2024, she was diagnosed with leukemia and has been undergoing cancer treatment ever since. After undergoing every treatment that Tucson had to offer, doctors recommended she travel to Houston to receive a treatment that’s currently in the clinical trial phase.”
Although Mrs. Watters is not physically on campus, her presence is felt daily and her colleagues are paying tribute to her by paying it forward. Students and staff are supporting her every step of the way through her treatment, including recently setting up a bone marrow drive to spread awareness not only of Mrs. Watters, but many others suffering from leukemia and other blood-based diseases.
The NMDP helps find matches for patients who need marrow and stem cell transplants. Unlike a blood drive, participants don’t make their donation during the drive. Instead, they fill out a health questionnaire and do a cheek swab which is sent to the NMDP. This will put you in the donor bank as a possible match for someone who may need a donation in the future. Donors must be between the ages of 18 and 40 to participate.
Ms. Dara explains, “We are holding the drive in honor of Cheryl Watters, who was fortunate enough to find a match from a stranger in the donor bank. She is not yet ready to receive her transplant, but her match has already made their donation, and it is frozen, waiting for her as soon as she is able to receive her transplant. It is our hope that we can “pay it forward” to someone else who has someone like Cheryl in their life, waiting for a lifesaving match.”
The main organizer behind the drive, though many people helped, is fellow English teacher, Ms. Dara. She revealed that the idea came to her when she talked with guidance counselor, Mrs. Boice, in September and started the process. “I think she was the first one to mention that she had registered to be a part of the donor bank because you can have kits sent to your house. The event that we’re doing on campus is so that people don’t have to do that process, but anyone can do it at any point.”
“By doing this – since we can’t be sitting by her side while she goes through chemo, we can’t feel her pain for her; she has to go through that alone – this is one thing that we can do just to show her that we care about her, even though it’s not directly helping or benefiting her. And if you know Mrs. Waters, she’s a very, very generous, caring person. And I think it does bring her joy to know that as a community, Sahuaro is rallying behind the leukemia community in general in this way.”
The drive occurred Friday, March 21st from the beginning of school to the end of lunch. There is an age requirement of 18-40, meaning only seniors, a handful of juniors, and staff who met the age criteria could participate. The drive included a quick mouth swab test and if the donor happens to match, they will get a call anywhere between two weeks and years from now.
If you do happen to match, the process is almost always just like doing regular blood work, not necessarily the needle to the hip bone like most people think. But if you do have to undergo the surgical procedure, most of the time the soreness only lasts 2-3 weeks. Also, if you do the swab and get a call years later – if you would no longer like to donate – then you can just decline and they will take your name off the list.
Sahuaro had a great turnout, getting 30 students and 2 staff members. The committee, six Student Council seniors as well as Ms. Dara, hope to get 6-10 more people next week for students who may have been absent.
Thank you to all of our Sahuaro community and the staff and students who put this drive together. The support that has been displayed is just another example of our community members coming together to raise awareness for Mrs. Watters and those suffering from these horrible diseases.
