"Once he realized the awareness issue, he jumped in with both feet. I really love him and appreciate the support and awareness," Snyder said.
Actor Jason Momoa is going the extra mile to assist his friend, Travis Snyder, 44, in his search for a bone marrow donor.
Snyder and Momoa met in Hawaii, shortly after Snyder received his initial leukemia diagnosis in 2015. In his seven-year battle with acute myeloid leukemia, Snyder is in a race against time to find a bone marrow donor, reported Good Morning America.
Snyder's tale was posted on Instagram by the Aquaman actor who also asked followers to sign up for Be The Match's bone marrow registry in order to potentially become bone marrow donors.
The caption read, "I’m back home and had the chance to catch up with Travis and his Ohana. They are fighting through it as we continue to search for a match in the registry. Thousands of you have swabbed your cheek which we are so grateful for, but we still need more for Travis and the other patients. My birthday is coming up and all I want is for you to be a hero and Hit the link in my bio and join the registry, All my Aloha j"
"He's a friend that's always been there for me," Snyder said of Momoa. "When I mentioned the registry thing, he was kind of mad at me and was like, What? Why haven't you told me this before?" Snyder continued, "Once he realized the awareness issue, he jumped in with both feet. I really love him and appreciate the support and awareness."
Snyder, a father of three, claimed he had begun to feel unwell and achy while traveling around London for work. At the time, he was in good condition and participated in triathlons. He was put on chemotherapy treatment after being diagnosed with acute myeloid
leukemia, which, according to the National Cancer Institute, is a type of cancer in which the bone marrow produces abnormal blood cells. This was because the bone marrow registry did not yield a perfect match for him.
"He's jumped in with both feet. I really love him and appreciate the support and awareness." https://t.co/Nz861dC6Qo
— ABC News (@ABC) August 25, 2022
After three years of remission, Snyder's cancer came back in 2018. When he was once more unable to find a perfect match donor, he performed a bone marrow transplant with his half-matching sibling. After being in remission again, the cancer returned in March this year, leading Snyder to resume his search for a bone marrow donor. He has not yet been matched by doctors, which has motivated him to fight for change to increase the size of the bone marrow registry and raise public awareness of the need for donors.
Over 40 million potential donors are now listed on the registries of the two biggest bone marrow donation organizations in the world—Be The Match in the United States and DKMS in Germany—representing only a small portion of the global population. According to Be The Match, almost 150 people currently perish from blood cancer every day.
"This continued cycle of being sick and going through all the treatment and getting well for long enough that I get my life going again, and then coming back and going to the registry and nothing is there, I feel very passionate. Obviously on behalf of myself but the many, many people who don't have a match in the database," Snyder said while talking about his commitment to growing bone marrow registries.
References:
https://www.instagram.com/p/CgtC87YvxCS/
Cover Image Credit: Getty Images/Emma McIntyre
