Delaware County football player giving gift of life to stranger
CLIFTON HEIGHTS, Pa. (CBS) -- A Delaware County football player is giving the gift of life to a stranger.
Ayden Garnes is home for the holidays in Clifton Heights, tossing around a football with his little brother and putting the finishing touches on the family Christmas tree.
But his biggest gift this year is something he can't wrap.
"You never know what you have that could save somebody else's life," Garnes said.
Garnes is on the Duquesne University football team. Off the field, the team participated in the annual bone marrow drive for the Be the Match registry.
With a simple swab, they became potential donors.
"The whole football team, coaching staff, trainers, equipment managers," Garnes said, "we all did it."
But only one player was a match: Garnes.
"I was like, 'OK, I'm going to think about this,'" he said. "And my mom, she was a little, she was like, 'Why would you want to do that for a random person?' I'm like, it's saving a life."
The only thing Garnes knows about the recipient is that she's a female in her 20s from outside of the United States.
"She might be the person that cures cancer," Garnes said, "or something like that."
For Garnes, donating bone marrow involves an operation with anesthesia.
"It's going to be two incisions on the side of my hips, and they can make over 100 incisions inside," Garnes said, "but it's going to look like it's one incision outside."
Garnes said he isn't scared.
"They said it's not going to be painful," he said.
Doctors say being a bone marrow donor will not affect Garnes' football career.
"He's a quality young person that represents our university really well and our football program really well," Duquesne defensive coordinator Michael Craig said. "This is just another feather in his cap for the type of man he is."
The 19-year-old is giving the gift of life during the holiday season.
"I feel like it's a huge present I'm giving," Garnes said. "Because I'm able to help somebody stay alive. A lot of people don't get that chance.
Garnes' donation operation will happen in early January in Boston. He then will be back at school in Pittsburgh.
Garnes played for Monsignor Bonner/Archbishop Prendergast before being recruited by Duquesne.
