THROOP, LACKAWANNA COUNTY (WBRE/WYOU) — A local college student is in the fight of his life, battling cancer. Lackawanna County residents are rallying around him as the 20-year-old is now in search of a blood stem cell donor.
All week long, there are swab events to help find a bone marrow match for Eddie Kaufman.
The 20-year-old Mid Valley alumnus has been battling leukemia since the fall.
28/22 News spoke with his dad and friends earlier Tuesday about Eddie's diagnosis and the race to find him a match.
"I would like to be the one to help him out, potentially save his life... we've been best friends since preschool," Eddie's friend Jaden Carroll explained.
Carroll, a Sophomore at Penn State Scranton, says he's hopeful he is a bone marrow match for his lifelong friend Eddie Kaufman.
"It was shocking, I mean it just goes to show that it could happen to anybody because I thought that was the healthiest, most athletic kid I knew," Carroll explained.
After starting his second year at Roanoke College last fall, the standout baseball player was diagnosed with T-Cell Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia.
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"He had gone back to school in Virginia. He called and said he's got some swollen lymph nodes and something's going on, and that was the first sign there was an issue," Eddie's father, Brian Kaufman, said.
The diagnosis is a form of cancer that impacts blood, tissue, and bone marrow.
Months into the fight, Eddie is now in search of a blood stem cell donor.
"They warned us going in that 70% of family members are not perfect matches, and we fell into that 70%," Brian continued.
Family and friends are now pushing to find the Mid-Valley alum a perfect donor match.
"Everybody just kind of came together and decided that we should find this match for Eddie," said Eddie's Friend Emily Deoliveira.
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Through the National Marrow Donor Program, the community is holding several swab events across Lackawanna County.
Anyone ages 18 to 40 can be a potential donor; all it takes is a simple cheek swab.
For potential future matches, 90% of donations are non-surgical and are as simple as giving plasma.
"There's a lot of people out there that need a bone marrow transplant, and 22,000,000 people are in the database. It sounds like a lot, but it's not enough," Brian added.
"We're getting a lot of love for Eddie, which is really, really nice," Deoliveira said.
Team Eddie K is growing locally and beyond.
The swab results take about one to two weeks to come back.
There are also campaigns going on in Virginia, Georgia, and New York.
