A University of New Hampshire shot put star is being hailed a hero after he quit his final athletics season so he can donate bone marrow to a stranger suffering leukemia.
Like the rest of his track and field team, Cameron Lyle, 21, of Plaistow, joined the bone marrow registry in his sophomore year and a few weeks ago, he learned he was a 100 per cent match for a 28-year-old man who has just been given six months to live.
But donating his bone marrow to the anonymous recipient means he'll have to miss the final two meets of his career, including the America East Championships.
Hero: University of New Hampshire shot put star Cameron Lyle, pictured, is being hailed a hero after he quit his final athletics season so he can donate bone marrow to a stranger suffering leukemia
The decision, however, was a no-brainer, he said.
'I knew right away I was definitely going to donate,' Lyle told the Eagle Tribune. 'I was pretty terrified at first, but it is starting to settle in.
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'They told me it was a one in five million chance of me being a match for a non-family member. They gave me the timeline and everything's been moving quickly after that.'
The recipient, who is suffering from acute lymphoblastic leukemia, and Lyle are required by law to remain anonymous to each other for one year.
'He has six months to live and I have the possibility to buy him a couple more years,' Lyle told the newspaper.
Easy decision: The decision to try save the 28-year-old man's life was a no-brainer, Lyle, pictured, said
But that responsibility means he'll be unable to lift more than 20 pounds over his head for a few weeks, ruling out throwing the discus, hammer and shot put in the championships.
The athlete's mother and team coach were both extremely supportive of his decision.
'He's my hero,' his mom Christine Sciacca said.
'I couldn't be more proud of him and how he's been so humble about it.'
But Lyle said he felt like he had been called into the principal's office when he went to tell his coach, Jim Boulanger, the news.
But he needn't have worried.
'I told him, "you either do 12 throws at the conference championships, or you give another man a few more years,"' Boulanger told the Eagle Tribune. 'It was easy for me.'
Lyle is undergoing the surgery at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston later this month.
After a year, Lyle and the recipient will both have the choice to sign consent forms to reveal their identities.
'I'd love to meet him some day,' Lyle said. 'He's not that much older than myself. I just can't imagine what he's going through.'