Mother of Three Suffering from Blood Cancer Inspires Hundreds to Come Out to Register as Potential Life-Saving Donors

Mother Hopes Her Donor Match can be Identified to Help Save her Life

NY, NY (August 25, 2008) - Lisa Mottesi, a mother of three small children, recently diagnosed with leukemia, along with DKMS, the world’s largest marrow donor center, and her family and friends held a successful marrow donor drive on Sunday, August 24th.

The team mobilized virtually every soul in summer ridden Short Hills and Milburn, New Jersey to come out and register as potential marrow donors to help save the young mother’s life as well as the lives of others threatened by leukemia and other life-threatening blood cancers.

On June 21, 2008, Lisa was diagnosed with Acute Myelogenous Leukemia (AML), a fast-growing cancer of the blood and bone marrow. She has undergone treatment, yet her only chance for survival is receiving a marrow transplant. Unfortunately, a matching donor has not yet been identified.

“Her children need her here, her husband needs her here, all her friends need her here,” says her close friend Debra.

To promote the donor drive, hundreds of flyers were posted throughout the Jersey communities of Short Hills and Milburn. This poster campaign proved to be a great success as over 450 willing individuals including friends, family and strangers, attended the donor drive to sign up as potential marrow donors to possibly help save Lisa’s life and other like her.

“Lisa has always given to so very many inside and outside of her community, and now the communities she has touched have an opportunity to give back to her,” added her close friend, Debra.

“The outpouring of support by the Short Hills and Milburn population was truly remarkable,” says Wolfgang Billstein of DKMS Americas. “Many lives can be potentially saved because of these deeply committed individuals who want to help make a difference in the lives of cancer patients and their families,” added Billstein.

The donor drive also helped DKMS raise more than $20,000, all of which will be used to register the 450 plus donors and add them on the National Registry.

About DKMS

DKMS was founded by Peter Harf, Chairman of the Board of Coty Inc, the world’s largest fragrance company, and his daughters Katharina and Victoria, who lost their wife and mother to leukemia in 1991. Today, DKMS is the world’s largest marrow donor center with over 1.7 million registered marrow donors. Since its founding, DKMS has facilitated more than 14,000 transplants.

The mission of DKMS is to give every blood cancer patient a second chance at life by recruiting marrow donors from every race and ethnicity. We inspire hope and healing by matching our donors with patients around the world in need of a marrow transplant.

DKMS Americas is a 501 (c)(3) non profit organization.
For more information about DKMS and to learn more about registering as a marrow donor, please visit www.dkmsamericas.org