April 12, 2006

VILLANOVA, Pa. - With plenty of healthy men to help the cause, a light clicked with Villanova Head Football Coach Andy Talley. Hearing that the National Bone Marrow Donor Program was lacking donors, Talley took action to raise money, awareness, and more importantly, hope for the tens of thousands of individuals diagnosed with diseases that could be cured by a marrow transplant.

In 1992, under Talley's involvement, over $10,000 was raised to test the blood types of 200 individuals. Emphasizing the efforts of his players and assistant coaches, the team has generated significant interest to the tune of 3,000 people tested since the program's inception. Not only have the players and coaches taken blood tests, Talley commended them because they have "donated their time and did the hard part, which is to go out and convince people to come in and take a blood test."

Talley and the Wildcats will host a bone marrow testing drive on Saturday, April 22 from 10 a.m to 2 p.m. at the Jake Nevin Field House. For more information, call the Villanova football office at 610-519-4105.

The significance of Talley's work is even greater when you consider that, to his knowledge, this is the only program of its kind run by a collegiate football team. His hope is to involve more college football programs around the country in order to spread awareness and hope.

In the meantime, Talley has increased the scope of his cause through the Villanova University Alumni Association (VUAA). He placed an emphasis on the Boston Alumni Club, whose efforts continue to provide significant financial contributions year after year. Throughout the duration of Talley's fight for a cure, the Boston group has donated the proceeds of their wildly successful golf outing. Taking the time to thank them for their contributions, the total of which is now in five figures, Talley attends the outing on an annual basis to show his gratitude.

Despite his success, Talley encourages more individuals to promote the cause. Between paying for the person who draws the blood as well as sponsoring the donor, each test costs between $45-60. The cost makes it difficult to test as many individuals as the program may like. The funds raised by the alumni groups enable the football team to test hundreds of individuals on a biennial basis.

Nationally, the odds are one in 20,000 of finding bone marrow donors for those with life-threatening blood diseases, such as leukemia. For members of the African-American community, the odds are even worse - one in one million.

According to the National Marrow Donor Program, each year more than 35,000 children and adults in the United States are diagnosed with diseases for which a marrow or blood cell transplant could be a cure. The problem with finding a cure is exacerbated by the fact that 70% of patients do not have a matched donor in their family.

Matching tissue types between donor and patient may be difficult, but thankfully a lot of people have taken up the fight. More than 5.5 million individuals have volunteered to donate marrow or blood cells to any patient.

However, given the odds, many more people need to become involved. When asked what he would say to those debating whether to come out on April 22, Talley said, "When would you ever have a chance to save somebody's life, and how great would it be if you had the opportunity and did save someone's life. To me, the motivation is the fact that you actually have an opportunity to save a life."

For further information on how you can be a part of the National Bone Marrow Donor Program, please contact the Villanova football office at 610-519-4105.