Filmmaker Ed Burns and supermodel Christy Turlington never became Edsty or Chrisward or, in short, the kind of star-powered couple that the tabloids feed on.
But I remember the story of their relationship because the part of my brain normally reserved for map reading and advanced math appears to be dedicated only to recalling useless celebrity related facts. They had an on-again off-again romance and they were “off” during the September 11th attacks. Both New Yorkers, they were rattled to their souls by the events of that day and essentially stopped playing around with each others’ hearts. They were married not long afterward and now have two young children.
While dropping their 4-year old off at his school recently, Burns saw a notice on the bulletin board about a young classmate searching for a bone marrow donor because he has leukemia. Long story short, Burns and Turlington are rallying New Yorkers to get tested. They’ve learned that it’s a simple procedure – a cheek swab – to find out if you’re a match and if so, you could literally save someone’s life. They’ve wisely organized an event surrounding the Tribeca Film Festival, when loads of stars and moviegoers will be around.
I’m in the bone marrow databank and have been for more than a decade. It’s a worldwide database and it’s unfortunate that it’s not better known. Canadian Blood Services has all of the info on the unrelated bone marrow registry. Isn’t it worth a few minutes and a swab of your cheek to find out if you could potentially save someone’s life?