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Ryan Manansala, 29, of San Joseis being treated in Houston for leukemia and awaiting a bone marrow transplant that may save his life. (Courtesy Quan Nguyen)

SAN JOSE -- Ryan Manansala spent much of his 29 years helping others, whether it was aiding autistic children or mentoring kids as a Big Brother. Now battling cancer, he's devoting his energy to promoting bone marrow drives that can help him and others find donor matches that can save their lives.

"Yeah, you could say I'm the poster boy right now," the 29-year-old San Jose resident said from a cancer center in Houston. "I personally don't like it, but there is an obligation to others. I don't want to see people have to wait and wait on the list and then die."

He learned two years ago he had acute myeloid leukemia, a form of blood cancer. He needs a bone-marrow transplant and he needs it now. Talking on his cellphone from the MD Anderson Cancer Center, Manansala said he was there for special chemotherapy treatment to buy him some time.

While a local bone marrow registration drive is named after him, Operation Save Ryan is not only for him. The drives will be held Saturday and Sunday at the Great Mall in Milpitas, on Saturday night at the San Jose Earthquakes soccer game in Santa Clara and on April 15 and 16 at UC Santa Cruz, his alma mater. Donors should be 18 to 44 years old.

"If they find a match for me, fine," Manansala said. "But it's really about getting more people to register for the benefit of everyone on the transplant list."

Not that his case can be pushed aside. Chemotherapy worked for him early, but then the leukemia came back with a vengeance. Along the way, the illness cost the Yerba Buena High graduate his job working with disabled children. Then his father lost his job. Although his mother continued to work, the Manansala family lost its house in East San Jose.

"It's been a roller coaster in the extreme," he said. But looking on the bright side, "My father losing his job allowed him to become my full-time caregiver."

For severely afflicted AML patients, bone marrow transplants are often the last hope. In the procedure, healthy stem cells from a compatible donor are inserted into the bone marrow of leukemia patients to create normal blood cells.

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A leukemia patient from San Jose becomes a reluctant crusader for bone marrow drives

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