Life-saving donation from Philly athlete saves life: ‘Feeling so strong, I owe that all to him’

Bone marrow donation by Wings defenseman saves man's life

Wings defenseman, Alex Pace, anonymously donated bone marrow and saved a man's life. They met recently, along with the man's family, to cheer Pace on and thank him.

PHILADELPHIA - FOX 29’s Breland Moore has done a lot of work with the National Marrow Donor Program, known as NMDP, including donating bone marrow stem cells.

She shares the heartwarming journey of a Philadelphia athlete who also donated and recently had a very special meeting.

Tom Mix and Philadelphia Wings defenseman, Alex Pace, share a bond that, literally, is bone deep.

"It’s almost like an out-of-body experience," Tom Mix said. "It’s amazing. I mean, you think about it. There’s somebody that helped save my life. And now, his DNA is inside of me."

Two years ago, Alex saved Tom’s life through an anonymous bone marrow stem cell donation.

"My prognosis was not a good prognosis," Mix continued. "The doctor told me when I got diagnosed with AML Leukemia, ‘You have a chance to be cured.’ He explained it’s through bone marrow transplant. Which, is an amazing feeling, because cancer’s – when you hear that word, it’s a scary word."

Tom’s doctors began searching the National Marrow Donor Program for a potential donor match. They found Canadian-born Alex Pace, who had swabbed his cheek to enter the system as a college lacrosse player.

"Two years later, I was back home, during COVID and I got the phone call that I was a potential match and then they said, ‘Are you interested?’ And I was all in," Pace explained the timeline.

In a process that is completely anonymous, Pace said, "At the time, I didn’t know if it was a man, a woman, their age, where they were. I didn’t really expect to meet him or find out who it was."

Two years later, a now healthy Tom and 17 members of his family drove from Connecticut to attend the Wings home opener, cheer on his donor and finally have an in-person meeting.

"It was definitely humbling to meet his whole family and they’re so thankful and it’s kind of hard to put into words. I just feel super blessed that this got to come about," Pace remarked.

"Feeling so strong and so much better than I was when I was sick to where I am now," Mix said. "I mean, I owe that all to him."

And, it all began with a single cheek swab.

"You put your name into the registry and give someone a chance out there. It’s not an invasive procedure, it’s just a swab of your saliva and it can go such a long way that it’s a no brainer," Pace added.

Fore more information on becoming a donor, visit the NMDP website.