Be The Match drive added more than 300 people to registry
By Wes Mayberry
www.onusports.com
The opportunity to save a life may not come around often. But when it does, it's important to seize the moment. And that's exactly what Ohio Northern junior Cade Crawford did.
In the spring of his freshman year, Crawford, a wide receiver on the ONU football team, participated in a Be The Match bone marrow donor registration drive on campus during which he had his cheek swabbed.
During these events, participants learn that Be The Match is an organization that connects patients diagnosed with life-threatening blood cancers like leukemia and lymphoma with donors for potential life-saving bone marrow transplants.
According to the organization, 70% of patients who need a transplant do not have a fully matched donor in their family and thus depend on the people in the Be The Match registry to be there when they are called as a match.
In June, Crawford was identified as a potential match, and he proceeded to begin the process for stem cell donation.
With everything lined up, he traveled to Columbus in August to donate.
"My family has been affected by cancer and illnesses, and there was nothing I could do to help them, so I felt like I stepped up to the challenge to where if this was my family member, I would've done anything I could to help them," Crawford said. "I feel good that I helped someone else and their family."
While some people may feel apprehensive toward stem cell donation, Crawford said it's a very seamless process.
"They tell you about all the warnings and things that can happen, but that's just part of their job. And all the people are very helpful," he said. "It's not easy — it's definitely a little challenging and nerve-wracking — but people our age, and really anyone, should, if they're able to, continue with the process."
In May, ONU head football coach Dean Paul and his staff, with assistance from representatives from the university's Greek Life, held a Be The Match drive that added more than 300 people to the registry for bone marrow donation through cheek swabs. That number has grown in each of the three years the school has held the drive, and Paul is hoping to see even more participation at the next event.
"Many college campuses have a lot of great community service projects, but there aren't a lot of them where you can directly save a life," he said. "We've all likely been affected by cancer in some way, shape or form, and this is a great way you can potentially impact another family that is going through a very difficult time and directly save a life."
Paul points to Crawford, ONU's first match, as an example he hopes others follow in the future.
"Cade is a quality young man. With the kind of person he is, I wasn't surprised to see him do this. I know he had a little bit of anxiety about it, but he was excited," Paul said. "This is all about following through, and Cade followed through, which is awesome. He is a hero who saved someone's life."
