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Cancer claims student's life
University senior Amelia Worth lost her three-year battle with leukemia just before Thanksgiving, when she passed away waiting for a stem cell transplant
by Tess McBride | News reporter
Amelia Worth, a University anthropology student from Coos Bay, loved Harry Potter and had dreams of traveling to Africa.
Worth struggled with cancer, going in and out of remission. She had said she wanted to be known as a woman living with cancer because of its constant presence in her life, such as her bi-monthly blood transfusions.
Worth had acute myeloid leukemia, which affects a person's white blood cells, and suffered from myelodysplastic syndrome, which debilitates the body's ability to produce mature blood cells.
Two weeks before Thanksgiving 2006, Worth died after living with cancer for almost three years.
Worth was a University senior.
"If you don't believe you're going to survive and if you don't have hopes and dreams for the future, then you're killing yourself because you don't actually, truly believe in it," Worth said to the Emerald last April.
The Fight
A team of researchers at Massachusetts Institute of Technology recently announced they have created a new technique for encouraging adult stem cell growth and survival.
Stem cells found in bone marrow develop into blood cells. Worth needed a stem cell transplant because her bone marrow wasn't producing healthy blood.
Last spring, Worth knew she would need the transplant over the summer. She was an only child, and had no matching relatives. Her greatest fear was that a match might not be found.
"I'm scared shitless," Worth said.
The MIT research has focused specifically on encouraging transplanted stem cells to grow new bone in patients with bone cancer or severe bone injuries. The hope is that one day a patient's own stem cells can be removed and then transplanted to grow new, healthy tissue. This would eliminate the need for an exact match, which is what Worth was hoping for.
Life seemed a little less scary when a match was found, a close match too, which her friend and roommate, Susan Barney, said was from overseas, either from England or Israel.
Worth struggled with cancer, going in and out of remission. She had said she wanted to be known as a woman living with cancer because of its constant presence in her life, such as her bi-monthly blood transfusions.
Worth had acute myeloid leukemia, which affects a person's white blood cells, and suffered from myelodysplastic syndrome, which debilitates the body's ability to produce mature blood cells.
Two weeks before Thanksgiving 2006, Worth died after living with cancer for almost three years.
Worth was a University senior.
"If you don't believe you're going to survive and if you don't have hopes and dreams for the future, then you're killing yourself because you don't actually, truly believe in it," Worth said to the Emerald last April.
The Fight
A team of researchers at Massachusetts Institute of Technology recently announced they have created a new technique for encouraging adult stem cell growth and survival.
Stem cells found in bone marrow develop into blood cells. Worth needed a stem cell transplant because her bone marrow wasn't producing healthy blood.
Last spring, Worth knew she would need the transplant over the summer. She was an only child, and had no matching relatives. Her greatest fear was that a match might not be found.
"I'm scared shitless," Worth said.
The MIT research has focused specifically on encouraging transplanted stem cells to grow new bone in patients with bone cancer or severe bone injuries. The hope is that one day a patient's own stem cells can be removed and then transplanted to grow new, healthy tissue. This would eliminate the need for an exact match, which is what Worth was hoping for.
Life seemed a little less scary when a match was found, a close match too, which her friend and roommate, Susan Barney, said was from overseas, either from England or Israel.
Viewing Comments 1 - 2 of 2
Aaron Jamison
posted 3/01/07 @ 9:57 AM PST
Thanks for running the article, even so late. It was good to be reminded of Amelia and her attitude today.
Jeanne
posted 3/01/07 @ 2:44 PM PST
Amelia was one of my best friends and i'm so sad that she's not with us anymore. Thank you for finally reporting this and getting the word out about the importance of fighting Leukemia. (Continued…)
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