Joshua Lang of the Oklahoma National Guard had forgotten about the day he became part of a bone marrow donor registry. But, three years later, the serviceman received a call informing him that he was a match to someone who needed his bone marrow to survive.
“One in a million odds of matching up with somebody. I say it’s even further than that,” Lt. Lang told Oklahoma's Koco 5 News.
Most people hope to find a match in a stranger since “70 percent of patients in need of a transplant do not have a matching donor in their family,” according to Be The Match. And around one in 540 of those in the registry will ever become a donor.
Lt. Lang, who is stationed at Fort Sill, didn’t even think twice about stepping up. He made up his mind right away that he was going to help this complete stranger, much like the time Matt DiMario donated his bone marrow to a young boy who was fighting cancer.
“Somebody else is in need and you can save their life,” Lt. Lang said, later adding, “Pretty awesome that you can donate more than just money. You can actually donate a part of yourself.”
Watch below and please SHARE to encourage others to follow in this Guardsman's footsteps!
