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Rihanna 'saves' cancer patient
07/03/2008 12:16 - (SA)
New York - A leukaemia patient in dire need of a bone marrow transplant has found a donor after Grammy Award-winning singer Rihanna publicised her case, People magazine reported.
"The English language does not have words that are adequate to thank someone for working to save your life," Lisa Gershowitz Flynn, of New York City, wrote in an e-mail to supporters on Thursday, People.com reported.
Flynn, a 41-year-old lawyer and mother of two small children, was diagnosed in November 2007 with acute myelogenous leukaemia, a fast-growing cancer of the blood and bone marrow.
People.com said last month that doctors had told Flynn she needed to find a marrow donor within four to six weeks.
Rihanna had done previous work with DKMS, an international donor network based in Tuebingen, Germany.
"When I heard about Lisa's plight, my heart broke," the 20-year-old singer told the magazine last month.
Rihanna's campaign to help Flynn sparked more than 5 000 calls and e-mails to DKMS, and about 2 000 new donors have registered, executive vice president Katharina Harf said.
It wasn't clear how or when Flynn's 32-year-old donor registered with the organisation.
Flynn has said she was touched by Rihanna's efforts on her behalf.
Rihanna, born Robyn Rihanna Fenty, and Jay-Z won a Grammy last month in the rap/sung collaboration category, for her hit Umbrella.
She was recently named an honorary cultural ambassador for her native Barbados.
- AP
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South Africa
