This is Emily Tan.
Emily's an FFTT alumnum and an accomplished movement coach. Just a few months ago, she was diagnosed with Acute Myeloid Leukemia (AML)- the most aggressive form of leukemia. Emily needs a bone marrow transplant, but right now, no on the bone marrow registry is her match. Getting on the registry takes just a few minutes. It is painless; you stick a cotton swab your cheek- no blood involved.
During the Articulate Body Intensive we took some time to make this awareness-raising video:
Overlooking people in need is easy. When they aren’t our family or close friends, they aren’t really our problem. Even from a position of empathy, sometimes we realize we have to turn away from an emotional burden we can’t handle. We have a lot going on, and we don’t know what to do— so we do nothing.
For many see-sawing with death, the worse things get, the more people turn away from them. Out of sight, out of mind.
Sometimes love, medical, and alternative treatments are enough to bring people back from the brink. Sometimes they aren’t.
My sister died when she was nine years old. She had cancer in a time before the internet. If she had fallen ill now, she probably would have survived.
Today, my friend and inspiration Emily Lola Tan is battling the most aggressive type of Leukemia, AML.
Medicine and chemo alone are NOT her best chance of survival. She needs us to collaborate through more than ‘likes’— she needs a bone marrow donor.
