There are no gifts more precious than life. At halftime of a recent college basketball game in Fort Myers, spectators witnessed student Zoe Horowitz meet the person she shared that gift with.
Horowitz joined the Gift of Life bone marrow registry in one of her classes in 2022, her first year at Florida Gulf Coast University. Gift of Life is a nonprofit organization dedicated to fighting blood cancer by connecting stem cell donors with matches.
For Horowitz, it was as simple as a cheek swab — but for Kevin Mitchell it was a 1-in-100,000 opportunity.
Mitchell said he was diagnosed that year with myelodysplastic syndrome, a rare form of blood cancer in bone marrow. It affects about 15,000 people per year, and the only treatment is a stem cell, or marrow, transplant.
There is a 1-in-200 chance of finding a donor with matching marrow each year, which made odds slim for the longtime airline pilot.
The donor and the patient need to have matching immune system factors identified through a process called tissue tying. If a match is found, a blood test is done to assure the donor is healthy.
A week after Horowitz was tested, she learned she was a perfect marrow match for Mitchell.
“When I got the call, I was just done with class for the day,” she said, “I was excited to hear the news, but I had no idea what it meant.”
After three weeks of treatment in 2023, Mitchell was cancer-free. However, donors are unable to contact their recipient until a full year passes.
Horowitz was thrilled when Gift of Life sent her Mitchell’s contact information. “They were like, ‘You should contact him first,’ and I was like, ‘OK, I will.’ Then we ended up on the phone for two hours,” said Horowitz.
Two years after Horowitz’s swab test, they met in person during halftime of the FGCU women's basketball game at Alico Arena on Dec. 4. Gift of Life has been a community partner with the university since 2018.
“It was unbelievable,” Mitchell said about their meeting, “I guess it was anticipation, adrenaline, everything at once, just drove me right to her.”
“I don't think I realized how meeting him would make me feel until we were standing there on the court together,” said Horowitz. “Everything became full circle, everything made sense; there was just so much clarity and so much reward, and he gives such good hugs.”
To learn more about the bone marrow registry visit giftoflife.org.
Copyright 2024 WGCU
