School's decades-old stem cell and bone marrow registration drive saves lives

For two decades, a school in the suburbs of Washington, D.C, has helped save lives by donating stem cells and bone marrow after leukemia touched a teacher’s family.

Andy Katz has taught at Landon School in Bethesda for more than 30 years. As senior dean, wrestling coach and mentor, he tries to give students tools to grapple with problems in the classroom, on the mat and in life.

In 2003, when his 10-year-old niece Amy was diagnosed with a rare form of leukemia and needed a bone marrow transplant, his family was desperate for help.

“You can’t even describe the feelings that you’re feeling,” he said. “You just feel helpless.”

Katz brought a donor registration draft to campus, and for the past 20 years, the Landon Bears have been saving lives.

“A match, it’s like winning the lottery,” Katz said. “When it first happened, you had to actually give blood and they would take blood samples. Now, it’s just a simple cotton swab in the mouth.”

Thanks to the registry, more than 260 Landon students and staff have been swabbed in the past six years, leading to two dozen matches and four transplants, according to the school.

“Wasn’t much, but I think it meant everything to the person I donated to,” said Landon alum and Georgetown University student Teddy Tibbs.

After registering at commencement in the spring, he donated stem cells.

“They release stem cells from your bone marrow into your blood … and the process for me took about five hours,” Tibbs said.

After registering more than 15 years ago, Landon teacher David Smith found out he was a match last spring. He donated bone marrow from his hips this summer, and two weeks later, he hiked 19 miles in New Hampshire’s White Mountains. He hopes his students take away an important lesson from his experience.

“That I could do this selfless act for someone who I don’t know is powerful, and I think that is probably what we need more of, you know, in the world,” he said.

Thanks to an experimental drug, Katz’s niece has been able to keep leukemia in check, recently celebrating her son’s first birthday.

Katz said he will continue doing what he can to help her and others find a match.

“A relatively simple thing to do, and there’s so many families out there in desperate need, the more people we get into registries the better,” he said.

Donors must be 18 years old, which is why Landon hosts the registration drive at graduation every year.

Correction (Friday, Sept. 27, 2024 at 10:38 a.m.): This story has been updated to reflect that 260 people have been swabbed in the past six years. Also, a student's year in school has been corrected.

News4 sends breaking news stories by email. Go here to sign up to get breaking news alerts in your inbox.