Two weeks ago, Ohio State freshman pitcher found out something that no college freshman should have to learn: he has myeloid leukemia. As he prepares to fight the disease, his teammates are by his side.
Ohio State baseball team signs up to give bone marrow to teammate with leukemia
When an Ohio State player was diagnosed with leukemia, his teammates provided more than just moral support.
Per the Columbus Dispatch, the team’s senior captain Tim Wetzel rallied the team to sign up as potential bone marrow donors:
Thirty-seven team members, including (coach Greg) Beals, signed consent forms, filled out a short personal history and swabbed their cheeks with four Q-Tips from a DNA testing kit to see whether they are a match for Farmer or anyone else in the nation.
"As soon as we learned Zach's diagnosis, I told Coach about this," said Wetzel, an outfielder from Mayfield Heights, Ohio. "I've been on the national registry for a year-and-a-half. One of my classmates at Ohio State had a friend's mom who needed a transplant. I wasn't a match for her, but I was a match for someone else a year later. I did all the testing. I was told the man didn't need the transplant. Hopefully, he was in remission."
Here’s the team swabbing:
Awesome story. Buckeye baseball teammates swabbing for freshman Zach Farmer. I'll explain today @ 5. @wsyx6 pic.twitter.com/4NsnUcJ32y
— Clay Hall (@claywsyx6) May 12, 2014 The players might not end up matching with Zach, but they could match up with him or anybody else who needs a transplant. Per the Disptach, the team is putting together a website (www.zf11.org) for anybody else interested in helping Zach with his fight.
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