Play of a Lifetime: Marietta College football player travels to Texas to donate stem cells to ailing woman
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MARIETTA -- A football player from Marietta College has donated stem cells to help an ailing woman he never met.
Jack Wallace, class of 2023, and his father, Rob, in January flew to Houston where he donated stem cells in hopes it will save the life of a 25-year-old woman.
Wallace knew the odds of matching someone was slim, especially only six months after joining the registry.
"I got a call in October, and they told me I matched with someone," he said. "I didn't think about it for long. Of course, I wanted to help."
Wallace was supposed to go in December, but the recipient backed out. A few weeks later, he got another call and everything was back on for him to travel to Houston.
"I had the easy part," he said. "There was some medicine I had to take before heading to Houston that helps increase certain cells and that had me feeling a little off. But the person who is receiving this donation has been dealing with a lot more than me. I just can't believe I matched so fast, and it is an honor to help."
Wallace and 140 other Marietta students participated in a marrow donor and stem cell registry drive conducted by Be the Match and Get in the Game in April 2022.
All Wallace had to do was provide a cheek swab and his DNA was later identified to match the unknown 25-year-old woman.
"I hope to meet her one day," Wallace said. "I was told we have to wait one year, and if we both agree to meet, then our names and contact information will be shared."
Wallace sat out the 2022 football season while recovering from a back injury suffered during spring practice. He helped the coaching staff break down video, while working on his degree in political science.
He returned home in Columbus and is working, but plans to return to campus in the fall to complete his degree and play his final year for Coach Andy Waddle.
"Jack has the opportunity to do something most of us never get the chance to do, save a life and answer someone's prayer," Waddle said. "I've had the pleasure of coaching nine players who have won All-American Awards at Marietta, but Jack is one of a very few real-life heroes I've coached, the other being Darrien Fields, who donated his kidney to his uncle in 2019. I could not imagine being prouder of someone than I am of Jack."
The program hits close to home for Waddle. His wife, Kerry Jean, had a bone marrow transplant when she was 26.
"Had she not had a transplant, she would have likely passed away," Waddle said. "Statistically, the best donors are young healthy men, and I'm a football coach with a team full of young healthy men."
Waddle organized a Be the Match program in 2016, but last year he reached out to "Get in the Game," which focuses on college athletes running bone marrow drives on campuses across the U.S.
"A lot of credit goes to Coach Waddle, because, without having him encouraging us to sign up and organize the program, I likely wouldn't have ended up on a registry like this," Wallace said. "Now I may have saved someone's life. That was an easy decision for me."
Wallace's dad is proud, too.
"He's a good kid. I think I would have been really surprised if there had been any hesitation on his part," Rob said. "It really hit home for both of us when we were sitting in Houston, and they had him hooked up to the machines and they were explaining how rare it is to match up with someone. If this is that rare, I can't imagine being the person on the other end. Then I thought they have to be overjoyed knowing my son was a match."
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Want to Donate?
Be the Match (formerly the National Marrow Donor Program)
Toll-free number: 1-800-MARROW-2
(1-800-627-7692)
Website: www.bethematch.org
Source: www.cancer.org