By Riley Eike
Staff Writer
Friday the 13th is unlucky no more.
On Friday, Feb. 13, John Hyland, a St. Bonaventure 1989 graduate, discovered that a bone marrow match had been found for him.
The 26-year-old male bone marrow match for Hyland agreed to donate. Catherine Zendell, a former classmate and close friend to Hyland, said the name of the male has not been released, but said he is not affiliated with St. Bonaventure. Hyland will recieve the transplant on April 3.
Zendell said Hyland is doing well; he is undergoing additional bone marrow testing before the transplant.
In the fall of 2014, Hyland was diagnosed with chronic myelomonocytic leukemia (CMML). Friends of Hyland joined together to support him throughout his illness.
On Feb. 5, St. Bonaventure alumni partnered with Be The Match, a national bone marrow donation program, and hosted a bone marrow drive in the Thomas Merton Ministry Center.
Zendell helped to spearhead the bone marrow registration at Bonaventure and reach out to faculty, staff and students.
“We had a very aggressive goal of 500,” Zendell said. “Our Be The Match representative was trying to manage my expectations. He said if we were to get 50 students we would be successful. But I knew this is Bonaventure; it is going to work out.”
Throughout the day of Feb. 5, around 350 people signed up for the drive from the St. Bonaventure community, Zendell said. Along with the potential bone marrow donors, Zendell and her group of alumni alongside Bonaventure students, faculty and staff raised $1,500 in donations for Be The Match.
“We couldn’t have asked for a better turn out, and such engagement from the students and faculty,” Zendell said.
Paige Hollenbeck, a sophomore education major, signed up for the bone marrow registration on Feb. 5 and said she enjoyed the event.
“My suitemate encouraged me to register,” Hollenbeck said. “The alumni were inviting and appreciative toward all of the people participating.”
According to bethematch.org, the 350 students, while not the match for Hyland, will remain on the registry for future patients.
By registering at the Be The Match drive, Bonaventure students are available to be matched with anyone in need of a transplant.
Along with the drive on St. Bonaventure’s campus, Zendell said the alumni have sponsored drives at the Country Inn and Suites across the street from Bonaventure, at The Other Place bar in Allegany and in the Rochester area. Alumni from New York City have also reached out through donations to Be The Match.
“We have a lot to be proud of,” Zendell said. “The school demonstrated to me as an alum and to its students what it means to be a [Bonnie].”
eikerr13@sbu.edu
