A shot putter from the University of New Hampshire, in Durham is being declared a hero, except not for his shot putting.
The shot putter, Cameron Lyle trained more than eight years to try to compete in the American East championships taking place next month.
However, the UHN senior who is 21, will hang up his cleats and retire from the sport in order to give someone he does not even know the possibility of living.
Lyle’s journey started two years ago when he was just a sophomore at UHN. He and his track and field teammates were given mouth swabs to join the Bone Marrow Registry, which is nationwide.
Lyle said he had forgotten all about getting his mouth swabbed until a few months ago. At that time, officials from the registry called Lyle to say he was a 100% match for someone who has six months or less to live.
The odds someone will be a perfect match for bone marrow are extraordinarily unlikely. Lyle said doctors told him the odds were about one out of five million. If it does not include family members, it drops to just one out of about four million.
On Wednesday, Lyle started his procedure at a hospital in Massachusetts. The only thing he knows about the recipient is that he is male, 28 years of age and suffers from an acute leukemia. Lyle hopes his bone marrow transplant gives the man a second chance in life.