Coach Mike London beamed as he spoke about what a difference-maker junior outside linebacker Trevor Grywatch has been during the past few weeks.
The coach's praise might seem a bit odd, given that the walk-on defender has only seen action in two special teams plays this season. But London's pride does not stem from Grywatch's tackling technique or his ability to make his way speedily downfield. London holds Grywatch in such high regard because he may have saved someone's life.
Last April - a few weeks after Grywatch walked on to the team at the beginning of spring practice - almost the entire Virginia football team participated in a bone marrow-testing drive held outside of Newcomb Hall. The "Get in the Game. Save a Life" program, originally conceived by Villanova football coach Andy Talley, encourages both student-athletes and other individuals to get tested to see if they could be potential bone marrow donors. Individuals deemed to be matches could help save the lives of individuals with deadly illnesses such as leukemia and lymphoma diseases.
London was especially interested in his team participating in the drive because he once donated his own bone marrow several years ago. London discovered that he was a match to donate marrow to his own daughter Ticynn, who was suffering from a rare blood disorder, after doctors at Johns Hopkins Medical Center had a difficult time finding a good donor. The bone marrow transplant that followed ended up saving Ticynn's life.
London was ecstatic when he learned that one of his own players would have an opportunity to make the same selfless act to help save another life. Following the team's testing drive, Grywatch was determined to be an identical match for a 60-year-old man with an acute form of leukemia who was in need of healthy stem cells.
"It's so heart-warming to start a process and get the guys involved," London said. "And the outcome of it is that [Trevor] has an opportunity to save someone's life, and when you can do that and give back of yourself to give to someone else, there's nothing more special. I'm extremely proud of him and happy for him."
Grywatch officially found out that he was a match around the second week of training camp back in August. The walk-on immediately embraced the opportunity to make a real difference in someone else's life.
"When you sign up originally, you never really think about this being a possibility," he said. "The odds are against the recipient to find identical matches. The fact that I was was so shocking to me at first. Just the fact that someone's life could be helped out by you is a pretty incredible feeling. I really wasn't hesitant to the idea of doing it all."
About a week-and-a-half ago, Grywatch traveled to Virginia Commonwealth University's Medical Center in Richmond to complete the six-hour transplant procedure, which requires an extended blood withdrawal. Instead of harvesting marrow from the hip bone, doctors filtered out stem cells from his blood, Grywatch said.
Although he had never given blood before, the government major said he was not queasy or woozy during the process, which he attributes to his experiences playing hockey when he was growing up.
"It was really not a physical struggle at all but definitely a mental challenge being in a chair for six hours," Grywatch said. "But at the same time, you kind of put it in perspective for what your recipient is also going through. It really wasn't much to ask at all."
For Grywatch, serving others is not a new concept. The 6-foot, 215-pound linebacker said his family has always valued putting in the time and effort to help those in need.
"Community service has always been a real facet of our family, and it was a way that I could help somebody out that was in need of assistance," Grywatch said.
And according to London, Grywatch's mother could not be any prouder of her son.
"I got an e-mail from [his] mom ... she was like, 'Coach, can we see him dressed up at the game because I want to bring people to say that's my son, that's my boy. He saved a life, and he plays football for the University of Virginia.'"
The Virginia football team will hold another bone marrow testing event this spring. The date for this event has yet to be announced.
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