Sandy Massey and son Tyler took a fellow to a ballgame last week. It wasn’t just any game or any team or any guy.
They went to Fenway Park to see the Boston Red Sox, and their guest of honor was Sandy Massey’s lifesaver, Christopher Moran.
Diagnosed with leukemia on Dec. 8, 2009, the wife of Baylor football coach Phil Massey survived massive initial doses of chemotherapy, then the long months of simply holding on through maintenance therapy as doctors at Vanderbilt searched for a perfect match. That match has to meet 10 of 10 DNA points to assure the best chances of a successful bone marrow transplant; most often it’s a sibling.
And when that match is found, the donor often does not want a connection with the receiving party. Moran, the donor match for Massey, didn’t seem to mind. He was in the business of saving lives — a young practicing physician whose specialty is pediatric gastroenterology.
“I wanted to do something for him, and in talking with him I found out he was a big Red Sox fan,” Sandy Massey said.
With help from Baylor athletic director Thad Lepcio, Tyler and the public relations people at Vanderbilt, she was able to put together an afternoon that Moran will always remember.
“Tickets behind home plate for Red Sox games are like, well, tickets to the Masters,” she said. “It seems like they’re passed down generation to generation, and Thad’s dad had four, which he was nice enough to let us use.”
Through some of Tyler’s pro connections — he’s currently playing in the Colorado Rockies system — they were able to get on-field batting-practice passes through Boston player Darnell McDonald, a reserve outfielder.
It was a wonderful afternoon, but the day also allowed Massey some closure for what she had been through.
“A lot of times the donors don’t want to get involved in case things don’t work out,” she said. “I wanted my donor, Chris, to know how grateful I was and to be able to thank him for allowing me to see my sons graduate from school. Even if the leukemia came back, he gave me 18 months I would never have had.”
Even though she delightedly met McDonald and “Big Papi” (Boston designated hitter David Ortiz) and several other Red Sox players, the day was for Maron, she said.
“It was a lot more emotional for me when they found him rather than when I actually met him,” she said. “Meeting him and the game was more of a celebration for me. I remember we were sitting in the stands and I kept turning around to look at Chris, and somebody asked me and why I was turning around looking back. I told him my hero was sitting right behind me and shared our story.
“We play to stay in touch, and when Phil finishes up with football we plan to go up there in victory, and we hope to have him and his family down here.”