The head coach for Stanford shared publicly the incredible bond he and his brother Eric share after David was sure his brother was going to lose his battle with a rare and aggressive form of skin cancer two years ago.
After a seven-year battle with the disease, Eric was out of options. Radiation, chemotherapy, two bone marrow transplants had all failed. Doctors were not sure any options were left.
The final option was a risky move where David would be the donor. He wasn’t a match initially, but the doctors were willing to risk trying a half-transplant even though a quarter century of trying had yielded almost no positive results. These transplants, called haploidentical transplants, typically use donor cells from a family member. The odds were long but there was nothing to lose. David knew going in he had a 15 percent chance of not surviving such a risky procedure.
Within several weeks, Eric started to show positive signs from the transplant and has been declared cancer free for more than a year. The transplant took a physical toll on David but it was a very small price to pay to save Eric’s life.
