Personal experience leads women to help
Nino Sylmar, SWT Correspondent
12-31-2009
At this point in time, it’s hard to predict where Courtney Hurd is going with her life in a few more years, but one thing is certain. She loves the unexpected turn of events in her life.
Eight years ago, her lifelong dream was to teach little students their ABCs, help with their math problems, get married to Mr. Right, give birth and raise beautiful children and live “close to mom and grandma.”
In that logical order, in that home-sweet-home scenario.
Born and raised in Fairlawn, she attended Pulaski County High School and graduated in 1996; entering Radford University to earn her degree in elementary education in year 2000.
First phases of her plan manifested. She was on track. She had started teaching at Riverlawn Elementary School when her husband, Caleb, who has a degree in mechanical engineering, said to her, “I want to work in NASCAR.”
No, not as a daring race car driver — she wouldn’t let him be exposed to such dangers—but as part of the racing crew or support team.
So, dutifully, she followed him to Charlotte, N.C., at the end of the school year in 2001.
But Courtney, with her high energy level, could not resign herself to the role of sitting at home, being a housewife, while hubby brought home the bacon.
So, she visited Hendrick Motorsports, where hubby works, and learned that Hendrick Motorsports has an integral arm — the Hendrick Marrow Program, a not-for-profit organization with over 550 employees.
Knowing little about the organization, Courtney applied as a volunteer.
Rick Hendrick, chairman and CEO of Hendrick Motorsports, established the Hendrick Marrow Program in 1997 after he was diagnosed with leukemia.
Even though he did not need a marrow transplant himself, he wanted to help other patients who are waiting to find a marrow match and give them a second chance at life.
His intention was to have his program work with the Be The Match Foundation and to support the work of the National Marrow Donor Program (NMDP).
His goal is to raise money and to add more potential marrow donors to the NMDP's Be The Match RegistrySM, thus increasing the chances of more patients finding their match. It also helps patients pay for some uninsured transplant costs, which are often a barrier to treatment.
Courtney knew little about the marrow program and how the system worked when she first started work. “It was completely unknown to me, but I began to learn about it,” she said, while visiting the Southwest Times a few days before Christmas. She was home for the holiday.
The company must have discovered Courtney’s hidden talent in the art of persuasion. Not long after she started as a volunteer, she found herself being offered a paid position as director of the fund raising department.
“Basically, what I do is to show both the potential money contributors from the private sectors and organ donors that the system works,” Courtney explained, “that people don’t have to die to save lives.” She points out, as one example, that a patient suffering from a blood-related cancer like leukemia can be treated with bone marrow or blood transplant from an umbilical cord, also known as BMT.
Umbilical cord used to treat disease?
Courtney explains: “The cord blood is collected from the umbilical cord and placenta after a baby is born. This blood is rich in blood-forming cells. Healthy cells. The donated cord blood is tested, frozen and stored at a cord blood bank for future use. The stored cord blood is called a cord blood unit.”
She says that the mother donor is not charged anything for this service. “The newborn baby doesn’t need the cord anymore but it sure can make a lot of difference to the life of another child,” Courtney emphasized.
Regarding her plan to “raise beautiful babies,” she says that that can wait since she already have “adoptive” children who are awaiting transplants at Duke University Hospital. Informally, as an offshoot of the marrow program, “Pit Stops For Kids,” was formed. On a beautiful day, she and her husband would sign the young patients out of the sterile hospital environment and take them to the park, picnics or ball games. “Where they can have fun,” Courtney pointed out.
A favorite patient of hers is Samantha Washko who suffered from leukemia at age five and underwent a successful bone marrow transplant. “She’s now in the eighth grade and doing wonderful,” Courtney related. “She’s cheerleading… she dances… she sings… She’s just awesome!”
The latest statistics show that company has raised more than $8 million and added more than 90,000 members to the Be The Match Registry and has eased the financial burden of more than 4,000 patients with grants from the Hendrick Family Fund for Patient Assistance.
When asked what she does in her spare time, Courtney’s reply was that she has little time for herself and when she does, she just likes to read. “I’m really a very boring person,” she chimed.
For more information on being a donor, visit: www.bethematch.org/join
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