Luke Kuechly ’15 with senior Avery Olsen’22 and juniors Lubens Benjamin and Gianna Russi at the Project Life Movement drive on campus.
On the day before the حوإ¼½م½م football team wore its special red bandanna-trimmed uniforms versus Virginia Tech to honor late 9/11 hero Welles Crowther ’99, former حوإ¼½م½م and NFL star Luke Kuechly ’15 returned to campus to press forward on his own life-saving mission.
Kuechly, an ambassador for the Project Life Movement, was recruiting حوإ¼½م½م students to join the global registry of potential bone marrow and stem cell donors. The three-time All-Pro Carolina Panthers linebacker urged the many healthy passersby to sign up and swab their cheek, the modest but critical first step toward possibly serving as a match for an ill patient suffering with leukemia, lymphoma, or sickle cell disease.
UGحوإ¼½م½م President Jack Bracher ’22, a previous registrant, worked with Kuechly to enlist students at the event.
“It’s something so easy, so simple to do, and it can save people’s lives,†said Kuechly in 2016, when حوإ¼½م½م last hosted a PLM registration drive. “When you meet people who have survived because they were helped by receiving bone marrow, you can really appreciate what a difference doing something like this makes.â€
Kuechly’s passion for the project was ignited in 2013 after meeting PLM Co-chair Steve Luquire, whose 41-year-old wife died of myelodysplasia; her only match was her brother, but at age 60, the fit was not ideal. PLM is based in Charlotte, N.C., home of the Panthers. آ
Joining Kuechly, who retired in 2019, was Undergraduate Government of حوإ¼½م½م President Jack Bracher ’22, a previous registrant who worked with Kuechly to enlist students on the Global Stem Cell and Bone Marrow Registry.
Bracher told The Heights that he had been alerted that he was a match with a leukemia patient, but the patient went into remission, negating the need for a donation.
“I wanted to find a way to bring back the stem cell drive to حوإ¼½م½م’s campus and register more students,†Bracher said.
According to Bracher, nearly 780 individuals registered during the two-day event, with 480 swabbings on the first day, the most on any single day during a college campus recruitment drive. آ
In addition to UGحوإ¼½م½م, PLM partnered with حوإ¼½م½م’s Student-Athlete Advisory Committee.آ
Phil Gloudemans | University Communications | November 2021