NY Knick Tyson Chandler scored one for the fight against blood cancer last night at Bally, the Swiss luxury leather goods house in Manhattan, by getting his cheek swabbed and registering with DKMS Delete Blood Cancer, the world’s largest bone marrow donor center.
The event served to launch Bally’s Lips for Life Collection, with 15% of proceeds from the collection going to support DKMS’ efforts to register new bone marrow donors and help save the lives of patients with blood cancers.
Chandler was joined by his beautiful wife Kimberly, who wore the Lips for Life collection signature leather jacket; supermodel Jessica White; DKMS Delete Blood Cancer co-founder Katharina Harf; supermodels Coco Rocha, Lily Kwong, Elettra Wiedemann and Anja Rubik, and over 500 guests, including families who are being impacted by blood cancer. They celebrated to performances by Charlie Puth and Emily Luther and a set by renowned DJ Mick Boogie.
Chandler and the other speakers slammed home an important message: there are many lives to be saved and all it takes is a cheek swab to register as a bone marrow donor.
“There are thousands of men, women and children who are bravely fighting blood cancer and need our help,” said Chandler. “It only takes a cheek swab to register as a donor with DKMS Delete Blood Cancer, like I was proud to do tonight.”
“Blood cancers will only be deleted through teamwork,” said Katharina Harf, who co-founded DKMS in the U.S. in 2004 in memory of her mother who died from blood cancer. “And I am so honored to be joined tonight by Tyson and Kimberly Chandler, Jessica White, and Bally Creative Directors Michael Herz and Graeme Fidler. I want to thank each of them for making the Lips for Life collection an enormous success. Patients like Shira Klein, who you met tonight, are fighting blood cancer and desperately need matches. This young mother of three inspires us to take action. That is what this event is all about.”
In the United States, blood cancer is the second leading cause of all cancer deaths and kills more children than any other disease. Even though many patients might be saved by a bone marrow transplant, six out of 10 patients will never receive one. DKMS has made it its goal to turn the tide, and save more lives.
“Katharina and her DKMS team have changed the lives of so many people through what they do; it’s very touching,” said Michael Herz and Graeme Fidler, Bally Creative Directors. “With the Bally Lips for Life capsule collection we wanted to show that the luxury world can have a heart. We’re proud to be involved with DKMS, and based on the event’s success, we anticipate the collection being a hit.”
