Yesterday was Tara McCafferty's 20th birthday. A proud Phi Sigma Sigma sister, not only is the College sophomore the exuberant promotions co-director of campus radio station WQHS -- a position she shares with fellow Phi Sig sister and roommate Maria Leonetti -- but she is also an aspiring artist.
"She's a very good friend and ... just a lot of fun to be around," says Leonetti, also a College sophomore.
However, this semester McCafferty has taken a leave of absence as she fights an ongoing battle for survival.
McCafferty suffers from paroxysmal nocturnal hemoglobinuria -- a rare blood disease commonly referred to as PNH.
In her honor, McCafferty's Phi Sig sisters at Drexel's Beta Rho and Penn's Nu chapters organized a blood drive at Drexel University yesterday, aiming to collect a minimum of 60 pints in a concerted effort to save McCafferty and others in need of blood transfusions.
"We had a great turnout," says Phi Sig Philanthropy Chairwoman of the Beta Rho chapter Ashley Bryan, noting that approximately 60 of the 85 participants were able to donate blood.
"People such as myself weren't able to donate because my iron wasn't high enough," the Drexel junior continues.
Nonetheless, Bryan believes that Phi Sig's 60-pint goal was attained.
All O-positive blood collected will be donated directly to McCafferty, while blood of other types will be donated to the Red Cross.
Monetary donations are also being sought to help pay for a future bone marrow transplant for McCafferty -- an operation costing up to $400,000 that would be therapeutic for her condition, according to Leonetti.
PNH -- a disease in which red blood cells are intermittently destroyed in circulation -- can cause severe anemia in affected patients, who sometimes need blood transfusions to correct the condition, according to Penn Department of Medicine Chairman Andrew Schafer.
"Also, some patients develop serious blood clotting problems because of [PNH] and therefore also require blood thinners to prevent clotting," Schafer continues, adding that clotting in major blood vessels is often the cause of death in these patients.
According to the Sidney Kimmel Comprehensive Cancer Center at Johns Hopkins University, PNH affects only one or two persons per million of the population and is most common among young adults, with the median age of diagnosis at 35 to 40 years. Bone marrow transplants are the only known curative therapy.
