Filmmaker Paul Goodman hoping to find his perfect bone marrow match

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    TUSTIN, California (KCAL/KCBS) — Paul Goodman has already battled cancer once before, but late last year, his leukemia returned.

The 29-year-old filmmaker from Tustin has been on the Be The Match registry for four years.

“I’m really looking for, you know, someone to kind of be involved in saving my life,” he said. “There’s a bone marrow match out there in the world for me, and if we could get it in the next couple months that would just be so amazing for my prognosis and my outlook.”

Goodman’s biracial background has made the search even more challenging in an already turbulent time for the healthcare industry.

A survey of 150 members of the American Society of Transplant Surgeons found that 50% of transplant centers have put living-donor programs on hold and 10% stopped all transplants last year.

Registries have also seen a sharp decline in the number of people applying to be potential matches.

Los Angeles-based A3M, an organization that recruits potential marrow donors, used to see thousands of applicants, but with large gatherings canceled due to the pandemic — and people more reluctant to get out in general — they said recruitment numbers have been down by 50%.

The first time Goodman battled cancer, he traveled from Los Angeles to Canada to make a feature film, continuing to live out his dream while also providing a distraction from chemotherapy. He said he has another feature in the works right now.

And although he hasn’t been able to physically see family and friends during the pandemic, he said he has a really good group of people rallying around him right now as he continues the search for his perfect match.

“And I’m realistic about those chances and how much of a hail Mary pass that seems, but, honestly, I think, you know, I can still hope for it,” Goodman said.

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