Cameron Lyle was a 21 year-old track star at the University of New Hampshire when he got a call that would change his life forever.

Two years before he had got the call, Cameron had registered to be a bone marrow donor. Though he was told at the time that there was only a small chance that he would be a match, Cameron ended up being the match for a 28 year-old stranger who just had months to live.

When he was called and asked to donate, Cameron did not think twice about his decision.

“I swabbed for ‘Be The Match’. I went with a couple of friends, took 10 minutes, filled some paperwork, swabbed a cheek,” Cameron said.

When he was called, Cameron was only told that he was a match to a 28 year old man with leukemia who had been given just months to live. A patient typically needs 5-10 cubic centimeters of marrow, but Cameron’s recipient needed 1800 cubic centimeters.

Thankfully, both Cameron and his patient recovered well from the procedure, and he received a touching letter from the man that he had saved afterwards.

“I got a really powerful card from him. It was dated the day that he received the marrow, so he wrote it still not knowing if he was gonna’ live or not,”Cameron said.

When it came time for him to donate, Cameron was nearing the end of his athletic season and his final championships. Cameron’s decision to donate put an end to his championship dreams.

“I went to tell my coach and then I realized slowly that my season was over,” Cameron said.

“Throwing a 16lb metal object as far as you can – nice! Helping somebody live – totally different. Priceless,” said James Boulander, Cameron’s coach.

Cameron now says that he has no regrets about what he did.

“So, many people went out and got swabbed when my story came out. The numbers doubled in a week,” Cameron explained. “It really starts with you wanting to help someone. There’s not enough of that right now, people helping people. There’s a bigger picture out there than just you.”

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