Football players push to save lives by donating blood stem cells, marrow

A pair of college football players are bonded off the field by something much deeper than a love for the game and a desire to win: Saving the lives of strangers.”I was really happy to help,” said James Rinello, the Johns Hopkins University’s quarterback.”I just thank God that I was able to donate,” said Aaron Winston, a running back for Hopkins. Winston, Rinello and their 91 teammates are part of Get in the Game, a program through Be The Match that educates college athletes and their peers about the benefits of blood stem cell and bone marrow donations. The program started 15 years ago on Villanova University’s campus. Now, sports teams at more than 325 colleges across the country participate in the program, registering people for Be The Match’s national donor registry.Collectively, schools participating in the Get in the Game program have registered 185,000 members, which includes 1,100 donors who have helped people in need.”We work with patients who have different blood cancers and diseases, so things like leukemia, lymphoma, sickle cell,” said Cori Smothers, an account manager with the Be The Match Washington, D.C., chapter. “For these patients, the stem cell or bone marrow transplant is going to be their cure. So, essentially, we call it that they are almost a superhero.” The Hopkins football team hosts donor drives every year to get students signed up for the registry.”Our guys don’t look at it as community service; they look at it as an opportunity to have a chance to save a life. So, it’s a pretty cool thing,” said Greg Chimera, the head coach of Hopkins football. The Hopkins players have signed up more than 1,000 people so far. Winston and Rinello also signed up, and in 2022, both received calls saying they were a match. They gave the green light to move forward without hesitation.”One of the things that interested me about it was the fact that people that look like me are underrepresented on the registry itself, so that was one of the big driving factors for why I wanted to be a part of it,” said Winston, who is African American.”(It’s) one of the cooler things I’ve ever done in my life,” said Rinello. “I was super happy, and my family was super happy that we were able to do something for someone.”Rinello flew to Indianapolis to donate blood stem cells that helped a 25-year-old man beat leukemia. Winston went through an invasive surgery to donate bone marrow to a young girl battling sickle cell disease. Neither of them has met their recipient, but they hope to soon. “Hopefully, I can shake their hands one of these days,” said Winston.”I hope he reaches out to me, but I would love to meet him,” said Rinello.Until then, Winston and Rinello bond over the chance of a lifetime to extend someone else’s lifetime, and they encourage others to do the same.”It would just be great to see more people on the team, more people throughout campus getting involved with the registry and potentially saving more lives,” said Rinello. Be the Match is always looking for more donors to join their registry. For more information on how you can help, tap here.