Sept. 11 has become a day to reflect on the sacrifices people make to help one another. It is that caring spirit that brings us together.
That is the spirit we are celebrating at South College with our “Day of Caring,” observed each year on Sept. 11 in honor of those who lost their lives that day in 2001. This year we’re focusing on those whose lives depend on bone marrow donations.
Gary Taylor
We recently held a bone marrow donor drive to help expand the registry of potential donors through a national registry program called CAMP (Cooperative Appalachian Marrow Program). In addition, students are selling red, white and blue ribbons so that people can show their caring support. All the proceeds will go to the CAMP program.
The inspiration for this focus is our own South College placement coordinator, Gary Taylor. Gary, a 14-year employee of the college, was on a bone marrow donor registry and received a call on June 27 about a 10-year old girl with an extremely rare form of anemia. Her life depended on a bone marrow transplant, and Gary was a match.
Gary answered the plea and calls it a “life changing experience.” He travelled to Nashville for the procedure to help the young child who so desperately needed his marrow. Two weeks after the surgery, he was back at South College sharing his story with our students.
Gary’s selfless act of caring is an inspiration to us all. Heroes are ordinary people who do extraordinary things. And Gary Taylor is certainly a hero to this ten year old girl and to us at South College.