Rihanna Campaigns For Nigerian Cancer Patient

  By Anifowoshe George

It is no longer news that pop star Rihanna has moved on with her life after the controversial breakup with former boyfriend Chris brown. The Barbados born singer is in the news for the right reasons these days. Apart from coming out with a new man, the award winning singer is taking time off her busy schedule to help 26-year-old Seun Adebiyi, a US-based Nigerian athlete who had hoped to compete in the 2014 Winter Games in skeleton sledding, but was diagnosed with  two rare and aggressive forms of cancer: lymphoblastic lymphoma and stem-cell leukaemia during training.

Adebiyi’s survival hope hinges on receiving a bone marrow transplant. The likelihood of a match is highest among persons of similar racial backgrounds, but only about 515,000 potential donors — 8% of the total registry — are African-Americans. As a result, 83% of African-American patients like him do not receive a life-saving transplant. The young lawyer who now undergoes series of grueling chemotherapy is now imploring Americans to sign up for the National Marrow Donor Program through (DKMS Americas) the world’s largest bone marrow donor center.

Singer Rihanna received a heart breaking letter from Adebiyi describing his plight and along with actor Justin Chambers, she is trying to pull him under her umbrella and help him get a donor. She responded in the media granting an interview to OK magazine.

“Leukemia interrupted Seun’s dream of being the first Nigerian in the Winter Olympics. But together we can help him make his dream come true! We need to find him a bone marrow donor! Please sign up with DKMS,” Rihanna said as part of her call to action.

Justin Chambers on the other hand appeared in a video posted on the internet recently, where the Grey Anatomy actor urged people to donate their marrow.

“My friend Seun is training to be the first Nigerian Olympian in the Winter Olympics but he has leukemia and needs a bone marrow match to survive. Sadly only seventeen percent of African Americans in need of a transplant will receive one. Join our mission and register with DKMS to become a bone marrow donor today,” he says in the video.

Seun is astonished both Rihanna and Justin have taken the time to help him. He said: “I am deeply touched by their plea for donors, not just for me, but for others as well.

“Their voices are so powerful and it encourages me how they used their influence to raise awareness about this important issue. That was incredible.”

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xmC7kElsNgk[/youtube]

(click to watch a video of Seun’s plea)

The emotional toll of searching for a donor can be even more devastating than chemotherapy and the aspiring Olympian as reached out to people to come to his aid.

This isn’t the first time Rihanna has used her star power for a good cause. Back in 2008 she made public pleas to help six-year-old Jasmina Anema and 43-year-old Lisa Flynn find bone marrow transplants.

Quick facts on Seun Adebiyi

• He graduated from Yale Law School in June 2009.
• He was born in Nigeria 26 years ago.
• He is vying to become the first Nigerian to compete in the winter Olympics
• He was diagnosed of the ailments last year after graduating from law school
• He currently undergoes chemotography at Memorial Sloan Kettering Hospital in New-York.
• Lymphoblastic lymphoma is a form of cancer that affects the lymphoid tissue which includes the lymph nodes, spleen and other organs of the immune system.
• Stem cell Leukemia is a progressive malignant disease of the blood-forming organs marked by distorted proliferation and growth of Leukocytes and their precursors in the blood and bone marrow.
• Both conditions lead to death.