Meet Matt

Meet Matt. He is a sports broadcast major at SUNY Oswego and is a HUUUGE sports fan. He loves Syracuse University sports...football, basketball and lacrosse. He follows the Buffalo Bills, Sabres and, of course, the Yankees. He is also a musician...plays piano, drums and guitar. He loves to sing and sings with a barbershop group back home. He was very involved in the theater in school. Matt was diagnosed on November 15, 2010 with PH (Philadelphia chromosome) and ALL (Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia) when he was 18. In Feb. 2011, after 3 months of chemo, he traveled to Boston for a bone marrow transplant. His donor was his younger brother. He spent 3 months in Boston with his Mom. When he returned home, he spent over 7 months in isolation from family, friends, school and employment. In January 2012, he went to college as a commuter student and started a job with Americorps. He was so happy to have his life back. In April 2012, at a clinic visit, he found out that the leukemia was back...he had relapsed. He started chemo one week later, while trying to finish the semester. He was hospitalized on May 3 with sepsis and spent many days in the ICU. He spent most of the summer in the hospital for either chemo or battling various infections. At the end of August, Matt returned to Boston for a second bone marrow transplant. This time, from an unrelated donor. Matt did so well after the last transplant that he cut his hospital stay in half! He was able to return home, but he still has a year of isolation in front of him. He will not be able to attend college again until September 2013. He is honored to be able to represent the big kids who get childhood cancer too.
Images by: Colors of Her Heart - Fine Art and Portrait Photography