It’s amazing what complete strangers will do for one another. Without thinking much of it, a college football player registered for a bone marrow donation program in 2017. Little did he know, that across the country and a year later, a little girl fighting for her life would match with him as the recipient of his donation. The transplant, and the years since then have changed both of their lives.
By the time Eleanor was 3 months old, she had already been diagnosed with an immunodeficiency.
She began having health complications very early on in life. She was getting infections frequently and her parents were worried for her.
Her health condition altered her life. Her parents were forced to keep her inside and primarily staying in bed because her immune system could not handle much contact with the outside world. Because of her health, her parents knew that the prognosis was not good.
“Eleanor was going to die without a bone marrow transplant” her mother explained to NBC News.
Coming to this conclusion was very difficult for her parents. Receiving a bone marrow transplant is a very invasive procedure and difficult to get.
One of the difficulties with starting treatment for a bone marrow transplant is finding a match.
In this transplant, there needs to be a match between the donor and the recipient’s HLA markers. Between siblings, there is a 1 in 4 chance of there being a match, and the likelihood drops after that. That’s why bone marrow registries work to find possible matches between strangers who might match a patient.
Fortunately for Eleanor, someone across the country had recently registered to become a bone marrow donor.
Michael Mushaw was a college football player. His coach had told him to look into donating bone marrow.
Michael signed up at a registry, and they took samples of his cells. While he had good intentions, he did not expect anything to come of it. He explains:
“I don’t think that when I signed up, that I was expecting to have to go through the whole program. I thought I probably would never hear about it again.”
But a year later, the registry reached out to him. His cells matched Eleanor and he was a good candidate for donating bone marrow to her.
Though he hadn’t been expecting it, Mike didn’t have to think twice before saying yes.
He was going to donate bone marrow to Eleanor, no matter how difficult and painful the process was. The donation procedure involved having 80 needles in his back and it was painful. Because he also had to recover for a long time, he ended up missing his summer training for his football team.
The transplant was a success! Eleanor responded well to the procedure and began to appear healthier as the weeks went on.
Eleanor’s parents were grateful for Mike’s donation and they wanted to meet him in person. So they attended one of his football games.
Absolutely one of those days that I will never forget. A special group of people, led by a courageous little girl and her hero @mushaw54. 💙😈 #GoBlueDevils https://t.co/nN7KG1EIMs pic.twitter.com/dYUODNbG94
— Tom Pincince (@tompince) March 24, 2022
They had begun a correspondence after the transplant, writing letters and giving updates on Eleanor’s health. They wanted to give him a hug and have him meet the girl whose life he saved. They brought Eleanor to his game wearing his jersey.
Every person involved felt that it was meaningful for Mike and the family to meet. He saved her life and will always be a part of her journey.
It’s a special someone’s THIRD life day!! Can’t believe it’s already been 3 years since the transplant, Eleanor is growing up way too fast. @BeTheMatch @TalleyBoneMarro pic.twitter.com/yWkG0ERYhP
— Michael Mushaw (@mushaw54) July 3, 2021
While Eleanor’s parents give Mike credit for his donation, he insists that Eleanor is the superhero of this story. He says:
“I just gave her a little bit of help. She’s the hero, she’s the superwoman, wonder woman. She’s amazing.”
It has now been 4 years since Mike donated his bone marrow, and not only has he become an advocate of donating bone marrow, he has stayed in contact with the family, watching the little girl he saved grow up.
Hear Mike and Eleanor’s family talk about their story in the video below!
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