Michelle Maykin Dies

Some sad news. Over the weekend, Michelle Maykin died. Her fight against leukemia inspired a nationwide outreach campaign to register bone marrow donors.

Maykin was 27. She was diagnosed with Acute Myeloid Leukemia in 2007 and after chemotherapy went into remission, but relapsed in 2008.

She dedicated herself to educating people about the importance of bone marrow donors, particularly among racial minority groups. She started Project Michelle, which has helped register more than 18,000 bone marrow donors.

Funeral services will be Saturday in San Jose. Details will be posted on the Project Michelle blog.

This post is also on Hyphen magazine’s