When asked, individuals who are thinking of joining the military will provide a number of reasons — economics, they need a job; to build a better future by having the military pay for college, so they can get a job; tradition…their family members may have served.

When you dig a little deeper, many of those who join say they also want to make a difference, they have a desire to serve. Some go a step further by volunteering in their military or civilian communities.

And some, like 1st Sgt. Christina Mitchell, take it to the next level.

Mitchell, from Alpha Company, 47th Combat Support Hospital, donated bone marrow recently. Like any first sergeant, she spends a lot of time making a difference in the lives of her Soldiers. Now, with her bone marrow donation, she may make a difference in someone else’s life, someone she may never know.

Mitchell registered for the C.W. Bill Young Department of Defense Bone Marrow Donation Program in 2006 while assigned to Schofield Barracks, in Hawaii. The Department of Defense program is part of the national program and coordinates marrow and hematopoietic stem cell donations of volunteer military personnel and civilian DOD employees.

According to the National Marrow Donor Program, each year more than 12,000 people are diagnosed with diseases that require an infusion of stem cells, and more than 70 percent are unable to find an appropriate match within their own family and will require an unrelated donor.

Mitchell said the process was very easy. The clinic held a bone marrow drive and nearly everyone in her unit signed up by registering with the DOD, and then a cheek swab was taken to get them into the registry.

“Out of the blue, I received a call saying I was a possible match for a 61 year-old with myelodysplastic syndrome, a type of cancer that effects a person’s ability to make new blood cells.”

After a more comprehensive test, it was determined that she was the best match. She was put in touch with a DOD transplant coordinator who got everything set up and was flown to Scripps Green Medical Center in La Jolla, Calif., along with her mother as an escort to help her out. Everything paid for by the program.

“Many people think it’s a very painful process, but it’s not,” Mitchell said. “I received 10 injections of a drug called neupogen over five days. The drug causes your body to produce additional stem cells which are released into your blood, these extra stem cells make your bones and joints ache.”

On the fifth day, two IVs are placed into the donor’s arms, one to draw blood and collect stem cells and the other to return unused blood, which takes about four to six hours. Mitchell said most of the symptoms were gone the next day and she was allowed to fly back home with just some lingering fatigue and minor joint aches.

“I know how hard it is to find a (bone marrow) match and how important this is to a recipient, so we had no problem allowing her to go on permissive TDY to do this,” said Capt. Anthony Salvant, Mitchell’s company commander. “This is just another example of her selflessness and leadership, which epitomizes who she is and what she’s about.”

Mitchell said she will get updates on the health of the recipient at 30 days and six months. At the one-year mark the recipient may agree to meet with her, and, at that time, she and the recipient may actually find out who the other is. It is, however, a choice, and Mitchell may never find out who she helped. That is something she is OK with.

“Even if I don’t find out who it is, it’s good to know that I may have saved a life,” she said.

For more information on the National Marrow Donor Program, visit salutetolife.org or bethematch.org.

If you’d like to become a bone marrow donor, you can register at Madigan Army Medical Center. Walk-in bone marrow registration hours are weekdays from 7:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the Armed Services Blood Bank Center Pacific Northwest, located in Bldg. 9904 on East Johnson Street in the Madigan Annex’s Ramp 2. For more information, call 253-968-1904.