“Do good always and help one another often." ~ Hebrews
13:16
It’s never been mainstream; there
are far more lucrative sports. Explosive,
massive strength is pretty much all that shotput requires. But Cameron Lyle had a passion for it. He loved sweating, competing and getting
better.
Of course, he complained occasionally under the blazing sun
of an intense workout, but in the big picture it helped him develop the heart
and motivation to push through the tough times.
Like the day he walked into his coach’s office, closed the door, and
said “Coach, we need to talk.”
A senior at the University of
New Hampshire, Lyle had trained rigorously for almost ten years to compete in
the legendary Penn Relays, the oldest and most celebrated collegiate track and
field competition in the country. Having
already medaled multiple times at the conference level, he was only days away
from his final chance at gold medals, possibly a spot on the US Olympic team.
“OMG Cam,” the coach responded. “When do you start treatment?”
“Not me Coach,” Lyle continued. “I’m a MATCH; a bone marrow match. Two years ago they took a swab from my cheek
for a bone marrow registry in the cafeteria. I forgot all about it, then the other day the
phone rang and doctors told me a 28 year old man who has blood cancer and only six
months to live is a perfect 100% match with me. It’s a 1 in 5 million chance.”
The coach went white as chalk. His mouth was frozen wide, unable to speak,
totally stunned as the consequences bounced around inside his skull. No tournament . . . no chance to be an
Olympian. Then his chiseled jaw lifted
with a proud, pleasant smile.
“Let’s see,” he said.
“Twelve throws in Binghamton or save a life? It’s a no brainer. Sport is not
bigger than life. God Bless You!”
He was so proud of his young athlete he could barely contain
himself. He gave up his shot for the
right reason. And in the end, he
contributed to their athletic programs not only as an athlete and as a student,
but a man of great character. You can’t
ask for more than that.
According to the National Marrow Donor Program, 12,000 blood
cancer patients require marrow or umbilical cord blood transplants in the
United States each year. Seventy percent
of those patients don’t have donor matches in their families and rest their
hopes on the 10.5 million potential donors in the Bone Marrow registry.
Let it be me Lord, please let me Be the Match
for someone in need. And if not me Lord,
let it be someone who hears Your call to save a strangers life. Don’t let me stand before You empty handed,
help me make a miracle happen. Amen
