Greenwood native Cate Hargett (third from right) is seeking a bone marrow donor because she is in bone marrow failure. Her sister Ali, an Ole Miss freshman, is helping organize bone marrow donor drives at community colleges, universities and towns throughout the state in hopes of finding a perfect match for Cate. Submitted photo
Ole Miss freshman rallies students and community to expand bone marrow registry
University of Mississippi freshman Ali Hargett has learned about bravery and organization during her first year in college, but not in a class. Instead, she has been watching her 11-year-old sister, Cate, who is in bone marrow failure.
The elder Hargett, a dietetics and nutrition major from Greenwood, is helping lead the way with family and friends in what has become a statewide effort to find a bone marrow donor for Cate.
Ole Miss pharmacy students and the campus chapter of the National Marrow Donor Program will conduct a bone marrow donor drive from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Thursday (March 19) and 10 a.m.-2 p.m. Friday (March 20) on Business Row. Additional donor drive efforts are in the works with sorority and fraternity chapters.
“Cate has struggled with bone marrow failure all of her life,” Hargett said. “This means her body can’t make enough healthy blood cells on its own.
“When some people enter bone marrow failure, they have 20 to 30 people already on the registry and have perfect matches, or they have a perfect match from a relative; but my little sister doesn’t have a relative perfect match, or anybody on the registry.”
It is easy to join the donor registry. All it takes is a swab inside your mouth.
It’s a cause that Jennifer Eastland, Hargett’s godmother, has been involved with for 30 years since her sister’s husband, Jeff, died of cancer at 28 years old.
“If he had lived longer, a bone marrow transplant was planned, so I have been on the registry since 1995,” said Eastland, operations manager at the Center for Manufacturing Excellence.
“It has been a long-time dream and hope of mine to be a donor match to honor Jeff’s memory. I’ve seen donors save lives – a lifelong friend was saved by a bone marrow transplant 10 years ago.”
The team is working to increase the donor registry in hopes of finding a perfect match for Cate, who loves to write stories and dreams of becoming a librarian or author.
“Ideally, you want a perfect match, rather than a half match, which I am, because the survival rate is so much higher,” Hargett said.
Doctors recently discovered that Cate developed a mutation in her TP53 gene. When this gene functions properly, it helps prevent cancer and keeps cells healthy. When it is mutated, it is possible that if cancer cells develop, they can multiply uncontrollably and treatments become more complicated.
Cate needs a matching donor before the gene fully mutates, making treatment difficult.
“College-aged donors are in the most needed age group because young, healthy donors give patients the best chance at survival,” Hargett said.
To help spread the word, she has enlisted several organizations on the Oxford campus.
“My email is full because I have reached out to School of Applied Sciences, the Chancellor’s Leadership Class and the Sally McDonnell Barksdale Honors College,” Hargett said. “Excel spreadsheets have become my new best friend trying to organize everything.”
Cate’s story and the donor drive efforts have spread statewide. Additional donor drives have been held on other university and community college campuses as well as in other communities.
The news has also traveled to nearby states.
Former Ole Miss football coach Lane Kiffin shared the story on social media, and Cate received a “win bar” along with other goodies from an LSU fan.
“We don’t know anyone at LSU right now, but we are about to because this fan is now talking with LSU to also have a bone marrow donor drive,” Hargett said.
Not only has Hargett improved her organizational and public speaking skills from these efforts, but she has also learned some valuable lessons from Cate.
“I have realized just how brave and how strong and resilient and courageous she is,” she said.
“I’m trying to be more meaningful with reaching back out and returning morning text messages from Cate because there is a chance that I won’t get those texts anymore. And that’s sad to think about.”
A matching donor would answer prayers for the family.
“When we say our prayers at night, the most serious one Cate ever said was, ‘I just hope I live next year,'” Hargett said.
“An 11-year-old girl shouldn’t be having to say that.”
For Eastland, love is also Hotty Toddy.
“Love for our teams, fans, students, alums, professors, the Grove, the campus – anything and everything Ole Miss,” Eastland said. “And if there’s one thing I know that all Rebels have in common, it’s generosity and love for one another, friend or stranger.
“Helping to find a blood marrow donor match for Cate is ‘love your neighbor,’ and in my lifetime of experience, I’ve never met a Rebel who doesn’t embody this message of love.”
Anyone between the ages of 18 and 35 who cannot attend the donor drive can register and receive a free kit through NMDP by texting “TeamCate” to 61474. Or, if between the ages of 18 and 55, visit the DKMS website at https://www.dkms.org/get-involved/virtual-drives/swab-for-cate to register as a donor and receive a free testing kit by mail.
By Marisa C. Atkinson
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