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www.insideHALTON.com | OAKVILLE BEAVER | Thursday, September 25, 2014 | 22 Match not often found in family Approximately 750 in Ontario awaiting transplants continued from p.19 She went through three rounds of chemotherapy before undergoing a stem cell transplant on Jan. 9. When Pike remained in the hospital for 30 days following her rst treatment, "it hit me the hardest," she said, because she was away from her children another month. "I was nervous with the length of the stay in the hospital. With leukemia, there is a risk of infection after you receive chemotherapy, so you can't go home like you can with other forms of cancer," said Pike. The Stoney Creek mother is among a select few who have found a compatible donor within their family. Less than 30 per cent of patients needing a stem cell transplant are matched with a family member, according to the OneMatch Stem Cell and Marrow Network, which locates and matches volunteer donors to patients who require stem cell transplants. Pike noted she would have had to access its registry of more than 330,000 searchable registrants if neither sibling was a match. OneMatch says approximately 750 people are currently awaiting stem cell transplants in Canada. Organizers of Oakville's Light The Night Walk are hoping to see 100 participants raising $100 each to support LLSC. The walk is expected to obtain at least $15,000. Pike's original fundraising goal was $1,000, but she has almost doubled it -- securing $1,985 as of Sept. 22. As an advocate for cheek-swab and blood donations, Pike can't stress enough how important both are. "I'm always sort of asking people to (donate blood). I don't like to harp on people about it, but it's so important. Everybody needs the blood," said Pike. "I don't think people know how easy it is to get cheekswabbed. The chance of them being a match is slim, but if it does happen, it is amazing." The Light The Night Walk on Oct. 4 takes place at Coronation Park, 1426 Lakeshore Rd. W. Registration begins at 6:30 p.m. and the walk starts at 7:30 p.m. To donate to Diane Pike, visit https://secure.e2rm.com/registrant/FundraisingPage. aspx?registrationID=2516768&langPref=enCA&Referrer=direct%2fnone#&panel1-4 To register, visit https://secure.e2rm. com/registrant/TeamFundraisingPage. aspx?LangPref=en-CA&TeamID=558884 and click on Join The Team. MEDIA SPONSOR: NIAGARA 1ST After race party @ RACE L UA N AN ON-THE-LAKE 1KM FAMILY RUN, 5KM CHIP TIMED RUN WHAT'S ON INSIDEHALTON.COM · · · · · · · · Local movie listings Local event listings Local news and opinion Used cars in our area Full local business directory Local classified listings Daily deals from WagJag Links to local announcements and apartment rentals BE INTERACTIVE Submit an event, Comment on a story, Submit a photo, video or article for consideration WITH YOUR COMMUNITY SITE ALONG THE NIAGARA PARKWA Y OCTOBER 4th 2014 for ALZHEIMER'S RESEARCH Registration @ liferunningseries.com Incredible Raffle and Silent Auction items sponsored by local businesses SPECIAL THANKS TO OUR SPONSORS Niagara Advance The