As if saving people regularly as a firefighter and paramedic wasn’t enough, one Texas man decided to go the extra mile and save a young boy fighting leukemia through a bone marrow donation.
Ben Denney, a first responder in Odessa, registered for Be The Match, a service that connects potential donors of stem cells or bone marrow to people with blood cancer.
In 2021, Denney found out that he was a match for a 10-year-old boy who had been diagnosed with cancer for a second time. He was first diagnosed at 8 years old.
“I knew had to act and donate,” Denney said, per WFAA.
On Denney’s second wedding anniversary, he traveled to a hospital in Washington to donate his bone marrow to Camden Barnard.
It was a success. Camden is now 12 years old and in remission.
Originally, the donation was anonymous, meaning Camden and Denney never met.
However, the Barnard family wanted to find the person who donated the bone marrow. Eventually, they managed to get into contact with Denney, who welcomed the contact.
“I know if I was a parent I’d want to know if some random person did this for my kid,” Denney reasoned, per WFAA.
Denney and his wife Arelene traveled to Louisiana to meet Camden and his family during Mardi Gras.
He admired Camden’s joy throughout all the suffering he underwent.
“It kind of makes my life a lot more joyous, like I can’t be down when you got a kid like that, that’s so joyful. He’s a good kid, a really good kid,” Denney told WFAA.
Denney hopes that more people will be encouraged to sign up for Be The Match and have a chance to save someone’s life.
Be The Match has maintained its registry for over three decades, according to its website. Just last year, it played a role in more than 120,000 blood stem cell transplants and 6,714 transplants.
Denney explained the process to WFAA, saying, “All you have to do is swab your mouth, it’s not invasive or anything like that. It’s just one swab and you’ll be on the registry and have the chance to save someone’s life.”
While some marrow donations require surgery, according to Be The Match, this is only required in approximately 10% of cases. Most of the time, donors only need to provide a peripheral blood stem cell donation, which is similar to donating blood and requires no surgery.
Something so easy can have an immeasurable impact on another’s life.
As Camden’s dad, Pat Barnard, explained, he will be forever grateful for Denney’s gift.
“When he did reach out he said ‘Oh it’s nothing’ and I said ‘Oh no, no, no. It’s the opposite of nothing, it’s everything, because of you my son is alive,'” Barnard said, according to WFAA.
The American Cancer Society projects that there will be 59,610 new leukemia diagnoses nationwide in 2023.