URI football player saves life with stem cell donation

KINGSTON, R.I. (WJAR) — Someone in the United States is diagnosed with a blood cancer every three minutes.

That’s why University of Rhode Island football is teaming up to save lives through Be The Match, the most diverse marrow and blood stem cell registry in the world.

“They told us we just swab ourselves and potentially you could match with someone,” said Rhode Island football senior Evan Stewart.

At Rhode Island’s annual Be The Match swab event in April, much of the team joined the nonprofit’s national registry.

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“We didn’t think we were actually going to get picked,” said Stewart.

Only one Ram would get picked -- URI linebacker Evan Stewart.

“It’s really nothing compared to what the other person was going through, so I was like it’s a no brainer,” said Stewart.

On Jan. 7, Stewart received the call that he was a potential donor, and a plan was put into place for his blood stem cell donation. But it wasn’t the only life changing phone call he had received that day.

“Ironically, my grandfather passed away and he was a big blood donor,” said Stewart.

Stewart’s once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to save a life would turn into a way to honor his late grandfather.

“I just felt like he was with me during the whole thing,” said Stewart.

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On Jan. 30, which happened to be his grandfather’s birthday, Stewart would undergo a five-hour procedure to collect stem cells to be donated.

“If you don’t like needles it’s hard, but it’s really not that bad,” he said.

While Stewart won’t be able to meet his recipient just yet, as Be The Match keeps that information confidential for one year, Stewart knows that he’s making his grandfather proud.

“It means everything,” he said.

Now he is hoping to inspire others on campus to swab a cheek, to save a life.

“If I wasn’t a football player here, I don’t know if I would have ever heard of Be the Match so just using my platform and sharing awareness to others just to do it that’s what I want other people to get out of this,” he said.

You can join the Be The Match donor registry on their website.