TUCSON, Ariz. — Starting his collegiate career at Duquesne, spending one season at West Virginia, Ayden Garnes, now in his first season with Arizona, is just like many players on the field. But off the field, Garnes is making a difference one match at a time.
“This is a young man from West Philly, who comes from nothing, not a lot, who’s had to work for everything that he has, and he’s talking about saving a life," Arizona cornerbacks coach Chip Viney said.
In 2022, Duquesne Defensive Coordinator, Michael Craig, shared he was able to donate bone marrow to his college roommate, who only had a few months to live.
“Knowing we had the drive coming up, it was an automatic yes that I was going to do it," Garnes said.
Garnes went to Duquesne Football’s annual “Be the Match” drive, ran by the National Marrow Donor Program. But he didn’t have much hope he’d be a match.
“For African Americans, it’s an under-one-percent chance that I was even going to be a match, so I really forgot about it," Garnes said.
Six months later, Garnes found out he was a match for a woman outside of the U.S.
“I ended up doing the surgery in Boston on January 4th," Garnes said. "By the time I woke from my surgery, her surgery was already done.”
“What got me, being a girl dad, this woman had a young two-year-old," Viney said. "Ayden’s told me ‘It was awesome saving a life.’ and I said, 'Well you saved two lives because if that two-year-old loses her mother, there’s no telling what type of life this two-year-old has.'”
Since then, Garnes has been dedicated to this cause.
“He’s going office to office telling the coaches, ‘you’ve got to do this, you’ve got to do the drive when it comes up.’ He’s inspiring his teammates, and he has that light about himself," Viney said.
Garnes will be putting on his own drive here in Tucson on April 30th.
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Erin Patterson is a reporter for KGUN 9. She's agraduate of the University of Alabama with a Bachelor’s in News Media with a Sports Concentration. Erin recently obtained her Master's Degree in Sports Journalism from Arizona State University at the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism, where she gained experience a sports reporter, anchor and producer. Share your story ideas and important issues with Erin by emailing erin.patterson@kgun9.com.
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