FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
November 25, 2013
Courtesy of Assumption Athletics Communications
WORCESTER, Mass. - In the spring of 2012, the Assumption College Student-Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC) held a Bone Marrow Drive in the Hagan Campus Center. In total, more than 400 students registered at the event, knowing that they may or may not ever be matched to make a donation.
Assumption College alum Dave D'Amico '13 and former Greyhounds ice hockey student-athlete received that call in April of his senior year that he was a match.
"I was a little nervous to start," said D'Amico. "But then I thought of family members and friends who have suffered from cancer and became more excited than anything for the opportunity to help someone's battle."
Each year, there are nearly 20,000 bone marrow transplants in the United States alone. With donors of all ages, D'Amico was one of thousands to register in 2013. He was ready for the challenge though when his call came.
"I didn't think I would be the lucky one of the bunch blessed with this amazing opportunity, but I knew I was ready to step up."
As a donor, D'Amico is not allowed to know anything specific about the patient receiving his donation. All he was told that the recipient is a 60-year old male with Myelodysplastic Syndrome (MDS), which is a blood cancer that leads to leukemia.
The donation that D'Amico gave was called Peripheral Blood Stem Cell (PBSC), which is a five-day procedure overall. It begins with injections of filgrastim once a day for four days leading up to the actual donation day. The filgrastim injections are used to increase the donor's stem cell count by extracting from their bone marrow. The procedure on donation day was a seven-hour procedure and knowing the process and the length of the donation, D'Amico never had second thoughts on donating.
"I didn't really have any second thoughts, but as an extra seal on the deal, I met a man who received the same donation six months earlier at Dana Farber. Seeing the impact that it had on him and his family, and how it impacted his recovery, I had no doubt that this was something I needed to do."
At the donation, D'Amico was hooked up to a machine that drew his blood, separated his stem cells into a specific bag and then recycled his blood back into his body. His donation generated 400 grams of high-quality stem cells, which he was told is enough for three patients.
"I am so proud of the SAAC group for their work in effectively communicating the message around bone marrow registration and donation," said Bethany Ellis, associate director of athletics and recreation who helped coordinate the Bone Marrow Drive in 2012. "We talk about how there are some things in life that we just cannot control and how important it is to do the best you can with the things that you can control. This is a situation where Dave stepped up and it is so exciting to see a former student-athlete be our first donor from our first registration drive. We hope that many individuals and families will ultimately benefit from the life-saving decisions made by current and former Assumption students."
On December 10th at the Hagan Campus Center, the American Red Cross is holding a Blood Drive from 2-8 p.m. In addition, a Be The Match representative will be on hand from 2-5 p.m. to discuss bone marrow donations and provide information and kits.
