Boston College encourages their students to live by the motto “men and women for others” by stressing their love for one another through service. One student in particular has become the embodiment of this mission with Project Life Movement.
In the fall of 2021, Kash was walking through campus with his brothers when he stumbled upon a multi-day Project Life Movement swabbing event. While Kash knew nothing about the registry, his brother had previously signed up and encouraged him to go over to learn more. Once the registry was explained, he knew that he wanted to sign up in case he was found as a match.
A few months after Kash joined the registry, a student his same age from Kentucky learned that he was diagnosed with aplastic anemia. Suddenly, Drew needed to rely on the registry to find his life saving match. While he had excellent doctors and nurses, Drew wasn’t able to find his match until Kash’s information showed up. Drew’s mother, Tara, recalled that “Getting a match was a breath of fresh air” once they finally heard that a donor was found for her son.
When Kash got the call, there was no question in his mind that he wanted to donate. What really stood out to him was that his patient was around the same age, so it was easy for him to put himself in Drew’s shoes and knew that he would want someone to donate if the roles were reversed. At the time, he did not see that donating was that big of a deal, but he would later understand the impact that he had in saying yes. Kash mentioned that he expected donating would be a huge commitment, but it was “…way easier than I anticipated.” Even though the donation did not take place for months after his initial call, he said that Project Life Movement, and their partner organization, Gift of Life, made it as convenient as possible for him to donate.
When it was finally time for the donation in December of 2022, Boston College was about to begin their finals week. Due to this, Gift of Life worked with Kash and his donation center so that he could donate close to campus. In the week leading up to the donation, Kash received his injections of a medication that help to bring his stem cells into his blood stream more quickly from nurses who visited his dorm room the week of the donation. His friends would joke that the injections were turning him into a superhero, but to us at Project Life Movement, he did become that hero.
Once Drew received the transplant, he said that he felt more alive. In April of 2023, Drew was finally able to get back out into the world after almost a year and a half of isolation. One of his biggest influences throughout his journey was something his cross-country coach used to say to him and his teammates on runs: “Another step forward.” Throughout his treatment, Drew always looked to the next step that would get him through it. Now that Drew is back out into the world, he looks back on his experiences with a positive frame of mind. The opportunity of life that Kash’s donation gave him has allowed Drew to grow as a person, excel in school at Morehead State University, and embrace his support system that has been with him every step of the way.
A year after the donation, Kash and Drew were able to contact one another for the first time. They spoke on the phone for about an hour, sharing who they are and learning about the other’s interests. This past fall, during another registry event at Boston College, Drew was finally able to meet his life saving donor face-to-face. There was plenty of excitement surrounding their donor-recipient meeting from everyone there. Drew’s father, Chris, said that it was amazing for them to meet Kash, someone that so selflessly helped their family. There were some similarities between the two, most notably their personalities. Kash said, “I feel like I have another brother now… I was able to give a life I didn’t know before, and now I am fortunate enough to know him.”
When reflecting on his donation, Kash said that it has given him a new perspective on life. He has been inspired to not stress too much about the small things and made him see how a little action can help someone else. Regarding the donation itself, Kash emphasized that “…you don’t realize how much power it has…” and that it was extremely convenient. Drew and his family like to reinforce that “…it does not take long to donate, but it changes people’s lives.” They have always been a family that tries to give back, but now they have stepped it up even more by volunteering and fundraising for other families going through similar experiences. “When you go through something like this, you see how much people need the help.” The journey to Drew’s recovery was something that they couldn’t have done without their family, faith, friends, and of course, Kash.