Kwincy Lassiter meets his marrow donor after battling sickle cell disease
Kwincy Lassiter meets his marrow donor after battling sickle cell disease
Original published date: 10/29/2021
Sickle cell disease: a family’s uphill battle
Imagine having a life-threatening disease since birth. That was the reality for Kwincy Lassiter, son of late NFL player Kwamie Lassiter. Kwincy was diagnosed with sickle cell disease shortly after being born. He experienced his first pain crises at just a few months old. Severe pain crises are often described as more debilitating than post-surgical pain or even childbirth.
Dealing with the effects of sickle cell disease took a toll on Kwincy and his family during his childhood. Between the constant pain crises, multiple cases of pneumonia and two potentially fatal episodes of acute chest syndrome (a leading cause of death for patients with sickle cell disease), there wasn’t much time to be a kid, and he missed a lot of family moments.
Kwincy relied on daily medications and blood transfusions just to feel normal. Even then, a change in season would bring excruciating pain, and Kwincy would be in and out of the hospital during those cold-weather months. Kwincy’s best chance at a cure was a blood stem cell transplant.
"I was worried at first that we wouldn’t find a [donor] match."
After learning that no one in his family was a suitable match—including his twin brother—Kwincy and his doctors turned to the NMDP RegistrySM.
In 2015, a donor was found but, unfortunately, backed out right before Kwincy was to begin chemotherapy for his transplant. This left Kwincy and his family devastated, putting them back at square one. As the search for a matching unrelated donor continued, Kwincy and his family would soon learn that good goes a long way. Hundreds of miles away, a college freshman at Texas State University made a life-saving decision to join the registry.
A lot of good starts with a little swab
One day after band practice, Bree stumbled upon an NMDPSM booth on campus. She swabbed her cheeks in hopes of being able to help a patient waiting for a cure. A few months later, she got the call that she was a match for a patient and, on her 20th birthday, in July of 2016, she donated marrow to help save Kwincy’s life.
I didn’t hesitate—I just said, ‘OK, I’ll do it,’ and I’d do it again,” Bree said. “I know I donated to [Kwincy], but it changed my life too.”
A special moment
Kwincy and his family finally had the opportunity to meet Bree in 2020 at a place near and dear to their hearts: the Arizona Cardinals stadium. The stadium is where Kwincy’s late father, Kwamie, played for over eight years in the NFL. This was the Lassiter family’s way of including Kwamie’s spirit in such a special moment. Kwincy presented Bree with a dozen roses, and they thanked each other.
At first, it didn’t make sense to Kwincy why Bree would be thanking him.
Why are you thanking me? You did it,” he said to Bree, to which she replied, “I know, but you gave me the opportunity. You and your family reached out to me, so thank you for this. It’s a big part of my life as well.”