Senior captain Tim Wetzel sprung into action, telling their coach that the entire team should be entered into the national blood marrow donor database.
Wetzel, a registered member of the database himself, explained the process.
A quick personal info survey and a cheek swab is all it may take for one of Farmer's teammates to save his life.
“As soon as we learned Zach’s diagnosis, I told Coach about this," Wetzel said. “I’ve been on the national registry for a year-and-a-half. One of my classmates at Ohio State had a friend’s mom who needed a transplant. I wasn’t a match for her, but I was a match for someone else a year later. I did all the testing. I was told the man didn’t need the transplant. Hopefully, he was in remission."
As a result of Wetzel's urging, 37 players and coaches were swabbed and will be entered into the national database within the next four-to-six weeks.
Meanwhile, Farmer had his first round of chemotherapy at The Ohio State James Cancer Hospital.
Once he enters into remission and finds a potential match, he'll be eligible for a bone marrow transplant.
“This puts the game of baseball into perspective. This is more about the game. Winning and losing is important, but right now Zach is in a battle for his life. We’re trying to help get him through this," Wetzel explained.
[via Columbus Dispatch]
