Carson Burke donating lifesaving stem cells

Burke a Lifesaver on and off the Diamond

By Mark Albanese, Director of Sports Communication

Three home runs. One saved life. Pacific Lutheran University's Carson Burke redefined what it means to be a hero on and off the diamond in under 72 hours. The junior delivered game-changing hits to win the weekend series against Northwest Conference rival Lewis & Clark College before transitioning to a life-saving donor, flying to Texas for a critical stem cell donation to a blood cancer patient in need.

It was a whirlwind weekend that was put in motion over two years ago when as a first-year Burke joined his fellow teammates and participated in the Get in the Game Registry Drive held on campus. At the time, the Seattle native was inspired to sign up by Head Coach Nolan Soete who was the recipient of a bone marrow donation when he was a student at PLU battling cancer.

Knowing our coach and knowing that he still has a very full life after that, and knowing that somebody else can do the same, made me pretty motivated to do this and give someone a second chance.

Two years later, Burke got the call that he was a donor match.

“I found out originally that I was a match in the fall. I was excited to be a part of that and see if I could help save a life. It was pretty cool.”

While the chances of finding a match is only about one-in-200, the Lutes have been an unexpected pipeline for donors since PLU’s first registry drive with the Andy Talley Bone Marrow Foundation back in the spring of 2022. That first event was a joint collaboration between Head Football Coach Brant McAdams and Head Baseball Coach Nolan Soete and was held during Division III Week. The event has been held annually since, with over 700 PLU students registering during those campaigns over the last four years.

Founded in 2010 by former Villanova University Head Football Coach Andy Talley, the organization has helped bring awareness and lifesaving donors to blood cancer patients, including the three most common blood cancers— leukemia, lymphoma, and myeloma.

Patients with blood cancers have only a 30 percent chance of being a match with a family member which means most rely on an anonymous donor to get the needed lifesaving transplant.

More importantly, the drive has led to four successful donations from PLU student-athletes. Last spring, Burke’s teammate Rowan Amann ’25 was a donor while football alumni Erik Bainter ’23 and Jai Alapai ’24 both successfully donated in 2023. It’s a staggering number of successes considering only 0.5 percent of registered donors are chosen throughout their lifetime.

Burke still remembers his reaction to hearing about Rowan Amann donating last spring and now has a fun bond with his former teammate.

When I heard Rowan was doing it I was obviously really proud of him that he was going to do that. And then when I found out I could do the same thing, I was also pretty excited that I could do it and share that with him.

The Kinesiology major had a few reservations about missing classes but recognized the cause was far bigger than a missed class or a missed game.

“The only reservation was missing classes but this was clearly more important. This was saving a life and obviously I’m going to try and save a life.”

Once he found out he was a potential match, the third basemen had a couple blood tests in the fall. A month ago he completed a full physical before taking daily injections every morning to boost blood plasma to ensure the donation could go smoothly. That included 7 a.m. injections prior to the Lutes’ games on both Saturday and Sunday.

My only request was that I could stay here as long as possible and play as many games as possible, and they were able to do that. I was able to play three games and then hop on a plane and go to Houston.

Burke capitalized on his opportunities over the weekend, hitting three home runs and four extra base hits over the three-game series, helping the Lutes come out with the series win. He saved his best performance for last, going three-for-five with four RBIs on Sunday, including a go-ahead home run to erase a 7-0 deficit in the bottom of the seventh inning in PLU’s 10-7 victory over the Pioneers.

“I kind of felt like the baseball gods were giving me some good karma out there for helping save a life. I felt good all weekend.”

The junior quickly shuffled to the airport after the win, missing the Lutes’ final game of the weekend, a non-conference game against the Pioneers to close out Sunday.

Monday morning Burke was at the hospital in Houston, completing a peripheral blood stem cell (PBSC) extraction procedure where blood is taken out of the body and into a machine where the stem cells are separated from the rest of the blood. The blood, minus the stem cells, is then returned to the body in a vein on the other arm. During the process, millions of stem cells are collected to later help save the anonymous cancer patient fighting one of the many different kinds of blood cancer.

“I definitely a lot of feelings going on but excited to get back to normal. But overall it was a good experience to have."

Burke was back on campus on Tuesday, sitting out of practice that day before returning in uniform the following day and fully plans to be in uniform this weekend when the Lutes face George Fox University in the first road series of the Northwest Conference season.

It doesn’t take that much out of your day, it doesn’t affect your life that much, so definitely do it, it gives another person a second chance at life.

PLU is again planning a Get in the Game drive on April 7 to kick of Division III Week. Burke encourages all Lutes to sign up and help give someone else a second chance at life.