Hematologist Mirando Mrsic, who treated the deceased Ana Rukavina, said that just a few months ago there were only 150 persons in the national registry of potential bone marrow donors and that since a public awareness campaign was launched by the 29-year-old Ana Rukavina, who was suffering from leukemia at the time, the figure climbed several times.
Journalist Rukavina, whose serious illness was diagnosed in May 2005, wrote a touching letter to her friends and colleagues in the Vjesnik daily in the autumn of 2006 as she was waiting for a suitable donor or money for expensive drugs and medical treatment in the United States. The letter triggered off strong reactions in the public and more and more Croatians expressed their willingness to be donors. Unfortunately, the lethal illness was faster and Rukavina died in the Rebro hospital in Zagreb on 29 November.
Nevertheless, her family and friends continued with the campaign which is being held in all major Croatian cities. On 21 December a humanitarian concert was held in Zagreb, and proceeds of more than two million kuna were collected for the foundations.
Doctor Mrsic said that during January samples of potential donors would be processed and their genetic profiles would be made so that Croatia could join the international registry of bone marrow donors in February.
Annually, about 50 Croatians are diagnosed with acute leukemia and they need bone marrow transplant operations. About 20 of them find donors among family members, and some 15 search further for donors with only three to four succeeding in finding, Doctor Mrsic said.