A different kind of insurance

A friend of someone I know has been diagnosed with blood cancer, just thinking about his young children and aged parents breaks my heart. His friends have planned to organize a bone marrow drive for him. Now, I'm as selfish as the next person but I'm still considering going there and getting tested for a match and donating if there's a match. Why?
When something like this happens to someone you know ( if only vaguely), its difficult to remain impassive to it. Cancer is not something that you can opt out of, sure you can try to exercise, eat well and steer clear of unhealthy habits and it may help to a certain extent, but a deadly disease like cancer is still a jackpot of bad luck where anybody can be dealt the card that entitles him and his family to all the suffering that follows. When I try to put myself in the shoes of that person, I find it difficult to breathe, what if it were to happen to me or worse, a loved one of mine. If I were to ask a practically unknown person to donate something as vital as blood to save my life, can I really do that while looking into his eyes. If I haven't helped anybody who's doing it right now, what defense will I have when my time comes? Will I be able to say to myself that "Well, I did it for somebody else, there's no reason why somebody else won't do it for now." Of course, I won't be able to force anybody into helping me out, but at least I'll have the strength to ask for help. And I'll have the comfort of knowing(hoping), that ordinary people like me would come forward and help me.

So you see my reasons of being in a bone marrow drive on a Sunday are purely selfish, but if my selfish act can give somebody a fighting chance against cancer...well...why not?