You probably remember early last Summer, we told you about Dallas Humphreys, a local youth baseball player beloved by his community, and struggling with leukemia. Thanks to the excellent help and care he received at Long Beach Memorial, Dallas was able to go home for a few months, with his disease in remission—unfortunately, it’s back, and he’s in the hospital in critical care.
Diane Munoz, a friend of the Humphreys family who’s been coordinating their donor drive efforts, and the mother of Long Beach State pitcher Jake Thompson, says the situation is dire. “I can’t tell you how crucial it is,” she said. “Finding a donor is his only chance.”
If reading that inspires you to help this young Long Beach kid, we urge you to join the LBPOSTsports staff in registering as a marrow donor, which thanks to the support of the baseball community, is easier than ever. The registration only takes a few moments, and you’ll only go through the donor process when they’ve found a match.
You can sign up at any of these events:
February 20th, Millikan Baseball Opening Day
Be the Match Marrow will be there registering bone marrow donors, and Long Beach Memorial will have a blood bank as well. All blood donated to Memorial will help the Humphreys family offset their care cost at the hospital. Show up any time between 9am and 3pm.
February 27th, East LB PONY Opening Night
More info coming, but you will be able to register at the opening ceremonies for PONY, at Whaley Park.
May 8th, Dirtbags’ Mothers Day And Cancer Awareness Weekend
It will be a big, important weekend at Blair Field, as Be the Match will be there registering donors on both Saturday and Sunday, and it’s possible Memorial Hospital will be there collecting blood donations as well.
If you can’t make it to one of those events, you can still help by registering online at this link: http://join.marrow.org/match4life.
Thank you for reading, and remember: the way we come together as a community has always been what’s defined Long Beach. As a city, let’s look ourselves in the mirror and make sure we’re doing whatever we can to help Dallas Humphreys.