Mother organizes bone marrow drive in memory of son

  • Published
  • By Airman 1st Class Shane Dunaway
  • 4th Fighter Wing Public Affairs
SEYMOUR JOHNSON AIR FORCE BASE, N.C. --  In memory of her son, a Seymour Johnson Air Force Base staff sergeant is having a bone marrow drive May 10 from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. in the enlisted club's ballroom. 

Samples from donors are collected with four cotton swabs - two for the inside of each cheek. The samples are loaded into a database and the donor's DNA is used to determine possible matches. 

Staff Sgt. Danielle Holloway, 333rd Fighter Squadron, organized the event, which is her third after losing her son Cavion to leukemia in 2005. Before coming to Seymour Johnson AFB, she held bone marrow drives in Offutt AFB, Neb., and while deployed to Southwest Asia. 

"Losing my son because a close match was not available hurts so badly especially because in my heart I know there is someone out there who could've saved his life," Sergeant Holloway said. "This is what drives me. I never want another family to experience a loss because someone didn't know how to register."