Sickle cell awareness brings the Boozer brothers together today as they urge young adults to join the National Marrow Donor Program registry.
Cayden Boozer plays his sophomore season as a guard for the Duke Blue Devils while his twin, Cameron Boozer, adjusts to life as an NBA rookie with the Memphis Grizzlies after being selected No. 3 overall in the draft out of Duke, and their older brother, Carmani, takes classes at Florida International University, uk.sports.yahoo.com reported.
The brothers share a unique bond forged twenty years ago when Carmani was born with sickle cell disease in May 2006, a blood disorder that disproportionately affects African Americans, uk.sports.yahoo.com reported.
Their parents, Carlos and CeCe Boozer, chose to conceive using in-vitro fertilization after learning a bone marrow donation could save Carmani and that a sibling was most likely to provide a genetic match, uk.sports.yahoo.com reported.
Carmani received a blood stem cell transplant using cord blood from his twin brothers when he was 21 months old, uk.sports.yahoo.com reported. Carmani, 20, has lived a completely healthy life since his successful transplant, uk.sports.yahoo.com reported.
The twins often joke with their older brother about the procedure. “We’ve brought that up, but then [Carmani] would just be like, ‘Well, I’m the reason you’re born,’ so it’s a touché comment,” Cayden Boozer told uk.sports.yahoo.com.
Now the three brothers are uniting to encourage people ages 18 to 35 to sign up for the National Marrow Donor Program registry. Finding a match can prove especially difficult for minority patients, making broader registry participation essential for saving lives.
“I wouldn’t be where I am today if it wasn’t without my brothers and my parents making that very difficult choice to go through with everything that they did, and I couldn’t be more grateful for it,” Carmani Boozer told uk.sports.yahoo.com.
“It’s special knowing that we’re here because of him, and he’s here because of us,” Cameron Boozer told uk.sports.yahoo.com. “There’s a lot of people who do struggle with it and go through pain and whatever it might be, and I think especially being a minority, it’s very hard to find a donor match. So just trying to spread awareness, get more people to sign up.”