TACOMA, Wash. – Pacific Lutheran University senior quarterback Erik Bainter was faced with a life-altering decision this winter. After signing up and participating in last spring's Be The Match Registry through The Andy Talley Bone Marrow Foundation, the Lute senior signal caller was selected as a potential bone marrow donor. Just as he has done on the gridiron for PLU, Bainter rose to the occasion and in March donated over 450 million stem cells for a bone marrow transplant in Boise, Idaho.
A Bothell, Washington native, Bainter hadn't given much thought to when he was swabbed to be a potential donor in April of last year when PLU hosted its first donor registry drive. Only 0.5 percent of people who are registered, are chosen throughout their lifetime. Bainter received final confirmation that he was indeed a perfect match on November 23, the one-year anniversary of the passing of former Lute football coach Derek Sparks. After getting over the initial shock of his selection, he consulted with his parents, but ultimately knew it was something he wanted to follow through with.
"I was surprised to find out during the education process that only 40 percent of the people that were selected as a match ultimately decide to donate," said Bainter. "I would think it would be the other way around and that 60 percent of people chosen would donate."
Bainter did some more blood work in February to confirm that he was still indeed a match, and ultimately would need to fly to Boise, Idaho to complete the extraction because the Seattle facility was booked for the day that worked best for his match.
"It definitely magnified the situation a little bit," said Bainter. "It was like, 'This is a big deal'. It seemed a little more daunting."
All of the travel and hotel accommodations were completely taken care of by The Andy Talley Bone Marrow Foundation, even down to a Lyft account that was setup for Bainter and his mother to go to and from the airport, hotel, and hospital. Â
On March 6, Bainter's match, a woman from the Netherlands, needed him to complete a Peripheral Blood Stem Cell (PBSC) donation, which is a nonsurgical procedure that removes blood from one arm, passes it through a machine that collects only blood-forming cells and returns the blood into another arm.
During the approximately five-hour extraction, he explained the process cycled through his entire blood supply about three times, or about 18 liters of his blood to obtain the stem cells necessary for the transplant. A dedicated student-athlete, he said he worked on school work during the actual donation process, but also snuck in some screen time and needed an assist from mom to feed him some food as his range of motion was fairly compromised. Â Â
Bainter said his arms were a little sore and he was tired, but after about three days he felt back to his normal self. He also described the five days leading up to the donation as being the hardest as he had to get injected with filgrastim twice a day to increase the number of blood-forming cells in his bloodstream.
When asked how he felt, knowing he potentially saved someone's life, Bainter couldn't have been more humble.
"I don't feel a whole lot different," he said. "It's just the right thing to do to help someone out. I would want someone to do that for my mother or someone I love. You're not just saving one life, but you're impacting countless others who know and love that person. When an opportunity arises like that you should take it."
This spring, Bainter will graduate with a degree in Kinesiology and will begin applying to medical schools next month.
"I'm incredibly proud of the great person that
Erik Bainter has been in our program and will continue to be as he heads off into a world that needs more people and leaders like him," said PLU Head Football Coach
Brant McAdams.
"A year ago, he was an eager volunteer at our first annual Get In The Game marrow registry drive. Seven months later his number was called and he stepped up to the plate. Most of the time leadership goes the other way. You lead by example and then you bring people along with you. Saving lives through bone marrow donation is the opposite, you have to get out there and recruit people to raise the odds of cancer patients in need finding their perfect match. Fortunately, Erik was a match and then he led by example. Lutes make it happen. We've seen Erik do it for four years, so it's no surprise to us that he embraced this life-giving opportunity."
McAdams Starts Initiative
After receiving an e-mail from the Andy Talley Bone Marrow Foundation, PLU Head Coach
Brant McAdams followed up and started the conversation about having a "Get in the Game. Save a Life" donor registry drive on campus.
The program is, "designed to educated college football players and their peers about the ability to save the lives of people diagnosed with life-threatening blood cancers through marrow and stem cell transplants."
Andy Talley was a head college football coach for 32 seasons at Villanova University and won over 250 games before retiring in 2016. He started the initiative in 2008 and each spring football teams across the country host registry drives. Over 165 programs have participated, accounting for over 159,000 donors and resulting in over 880 transplants.
"The Andy Talley Bone Marrow Foundation has been so awesome to work with," said McAdams.Â
"Andy is a retired college coach so he understands the demands that coaches already have on their plates and his organization supports teams and schools so well that we will partner in this amazing cause every year. We want to help the foundation grow every year by bringing more schools on board and saving more lives."
McAdams quickly got PLU Head Baseball Coach Nolan Soete involved. Not only is the baseball program one of the larger rosters in the department, Soete himself received a transplant while a student-athlete at PLU after being diagnosed with severe aplastic anemia. PLU Hall of Fame baseball player Brock Gates also lost his battle to leukemia in March of 2022, so that baseball program couldn't have been a more engaged partner.
"Coach McAdams did a great job organizing the event last year with Be The Match," said Soete.
"It is something that is close to my heart because I'm a bone marrow transplant survivor. I was fortunate enough to have a sister who was a perfect match. She is why I'm alive today. Many people in need of a bone marrow match are not that fortunate and the registry list is their only hope. The fact that one of our student-athletes was able to provide hope for a patient in need is amazing. We look forward to continuing our partnerships with Be The Match for many years to come."
In total, 355 Lutes signed up to be donors last year's registry drive. True to their word McAdams and Soete will join forces again on April 12 for the second annual drive. It will take place in the Anderson University Center from 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. and will be held during PLU's annual celebrations of NCAA Division III Week.
