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An act of kindness can be many things. It can be as small as helping an old person across the street, or holding a door for someone who has their hands full. But what makes the difference between an act of kindness and an act of heroism - is sacrifice. In the case of promising athlete Cameron Lyle, it is definitely the latter.
Cameron was a promising college track and field star at his final year of playing and just before the final two meets of his career, including the championship games. These were a huge oppurtunity for the young man, who knew that those games will determine the rest of his career as a professional athlete.
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But when he received a phone call from the hospital, everything changed. Cameron was asked to donate 2 whole liters of bone marrow to a patient with only six months to live. The patient was never introduced to him, and he was only told he was a male at age 28 with severe lukemia.
Unfortunately, to donate this much bone marrow would mean that the young athlete would be out of commission for many weeks, and wouldn't be able to participate at the most crucial stages of his career - basically cutting short his career path and his future goals as an athlete.
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"It was an easy decision," said Cameron when asked about the choice between his dream and the life of a stranger he never met, and even after giving the donation, there was no guarantee it would actually save the life of the lukemia patient.
Cameron was prepared for the dissapointment of his parents and coach, but was pleasantly surprised. 'He's my hero,' his mom Christine Sciacca said. 'I couldn't be more proud of him and how he's been so humble about it.'
'I told him, "you either do 12 throws at the conference championships, or you give another man a few more years,"' said his coach.
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The donor will remain anonymous to Cameron for a period of one year, according to law, and only then will they be able to meet.
Baba-mail would like to tip its metaphorical hat to this brave and selfless act of heroism. While this may seem like an easy choice to some, giving up your dream and possibly the career you worked you're whole life for is a horrible sacrifice, not one taken easily, and we applaud the young man's actions, as well as hope this donation will truely save the life of the patient in need.
Tell us, would you have done the same?
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