Rihanna Hopes to Assist Leukemia Patient through Her Music and Her Influence
January 20th, 2010
After receiving a letter from an Olympic hopeful suffering from leukemia, singer Rihanna is attempting to find a donor for the 26-year-old.
Contact Music.com reports that Seun Adebiyi contacted the “Russian Roulette” songstress recently. The Nigerian athlete had wanted to compete in the 2014 Olympic Games as part of the skeleton sledding competition, but was diagnosed with the disease even as he was training.
Rihanna says she will do whatever she can to help raise awareness on behalf of Adebiyi and hopes to help find a bone marrow donor for the athlete. The latest Rihanna music videos will be available in the UK in 2010.
“Leukemia interrupted Seun’s dream of being the first Nigerian in the Winter Olympics, but together we can help him make his dream come true,” the singer declares. “We need to find time a bone marrow donor! Please sign up with DKMS!”
Adebiyi, reportedly a recent graduate of Yale Law School, is also receiving help from Grey’s Anatomy actor Justin Chambers, who is also appealing to the public for bone marrow donors to come forward.
The athlete is obviously grateful for the attention, saying: “I am deeply touched by their plea for donors, not just for me, but for others as well. Their voices are so powerful and it encourages me how they used their influence to raise awareness about this important issue. That was incredible.”
This is not the first time that singer Rihanna has used her fame to help out those in need; last year and the year before the singer was involved in two successful public requests for bone marrow donors. Both six-year-old Jasmina Anema and 43-year-old Lisa Flynn received transplants, thanks in part to Rihanna.
