Athletic director donates marrow to man in Spain

GALLUP — In the weeks leading up to the holidays, while many of us were focused on gift-giving plans and the new year, Adrian Pete was recovering from giving a life-saving medical donation to a stranger across the world.

Pete, the athletic director for Rehoboth Christian High School, donated his bone marrow through a surgical procedure in California in late October.

And because bone marrow donors and recipients are usually matched because they share a similar ethnic background, Pete, a member of the Navajo Nation, was surprised to learn the recipient of his bone marrow is a man in Spain.

Pete admitted he was “pretty surprised” to learn his bone marrow was a good match for the patient with aplastic anemia, a rare medical condition that occurs when the body stops producing enough new blood cells.

“Being Navajo, but also knowing that through my mom’s side, there’s a little Spanish blood through my mom’s side,” Pete speculated of the possible connection during an interview with the Gallup Independent at the Rehoboth Sports Center.

Pete said his mother is part of the Hubbell-Goodluck family on the Navajo Nation, with his maternal grandfather being a Navajo descendant of the Hispanic trading family that established Hubbell Trading

Post in Ganado, Arizona.

This connection to the patient in Spain only happened because Pete signed up with a bone marrow registry a few years ago as a way of offering support to a friend and former Gallup educator.

According to Pete, area residents were encouraged to join the Be The Match Registry during Rehoboth Christian School’s annual Color Run in the spring of 2018. The registry connects patients with donor matches around the world for life-saving bone marrow transplants.

In January 2018, Dirk Hollebeek, a former educator for both Rehoboth and the Gallup-McKinley County Schools, had been diagnosed with aggressive acute leukemia in Michigan. Hollebeek underwent a successful bone marrow transplant — after his donor match was located in Europe — so Rehoboth School officials hosted a registry drive in Hollebeek’s honor to help other patients waiting to be matched.

Pete credited Hollebeek for inspiring the local registry event, and he credited Rehoboth teacher Chad Meekhof for stepping up to organize the event. As a result, Pete said, he filled out a consent form, swabbed his cheek and joined the registry.

More than three years later, in September, Pete was contacted by Be The Match and informed that he appeared to be a good match for patient needing a bone marrow transplant. For the next several weeks, Pete said he underwent medical interviews and tests, both locally and in San Diego.

In late October, Pete and his wife flew to California for the surgery. A father of four, Pete said his family was supportive of his decision.

“Their reaction was wow — surprise, excitement — but also, you know, a little fear,” he said. “They didn’t want anything to happen to me. There’s always a risk when you’re having surgery.”

Pete said he knew the students, parents and staff at Rehoboth were also praying for him.

The surgical procedure took about four to five hours, Pete said, with the doctors removing the liquid marrow with needles placed in his lower back.

“They were really happy with the amount I was able to give,” Pete said, adding the surgery left him with some initial pain and soreness in his back and lingering fatigue. He noted that bone marrow replenishes itself after the surgery as one recovers.

“I would say I’m not 100 percent back yet,” he added. “I’m about 80 to 90 percent where I was at before.”

A highlight of Pete’s experience came with a phone call from Hollebeek, whose recovery is ongoing in Michigan.

“Dirk called me the day after the surgery, and we really had an emotional call,” Pete said.

According to Pete, Hollebeek told him, “You may not think this is a big thing, but it is … the impact you’re making on someone’s life is a blessing.”

Pete said talking with Hollebeek made him realize the scientific and medical advances that make a bone marrow transplant possible also offered him the opportunity to give a life-saving gift to another person.

In a year, Pete said, officials from Be The Match will provide him with an update on the medical condition of the bone marrow recipient in Spain. Pete is hopeful the man will be experiencing a successful recovery. Pete said he would also welcome any possible future contact with the man.

“I think it’s more the recipient’s decision,” Pete explained. “If that’s a possibility — absolutely. It’s always good to put a face and a name to the person that you’re just trying to help.”

Pete said he would encourage others to be willing to become a bone marrow donor and join the registry.

“It was a very humbling experience,” Pete said. “And I’m thankful that God used me in that way to save a life.”

According to the Be The Match website, donors between the ages of 18 and 35 provide the greatest chance for transplant success. The registry particularly needs more donors who are African American, Asian, Hispanic, Native American, Native Hawaiian or multiracial to increase the ethnic diversity of the registry and help more patients find the match they need.

Pete said talking with Hollebeek made him realize the scientific and medical advances that make a bone marrow transplant possible also offered him the opportunity to give a life-saving gift to another person. … Pete said he would encourage others to be willing to become a bone marrow donor and join the registry.