Stem donor meets recipient at Florida Gulf Coast University

A Florida Gulf Coast University student is giving the gift of life this holiday season. FGCU senior Zoe Horowitz met the person who received her stem cell donation face-to-face.

Two strangers sat at an Alico Arena basketball game.

One was a college senior whose cheek swab was the perfect match for a father and husband who needed stem cells to battle a rare cancer.

Kevin Mitchell is the man who received the life-saving stem cell treatment. He said that it is difficult to find a cure for it.

“It’s called myeloma, plastic syndrome,” said Mitchell. “It’s a very rare blood cancer. About 80,000 people a year get…the only known cure is a stem cell transplant.”

Finding that match of stem cells for his treatment was a 1 in 100,000 chance. Horowitz is that one.

“When I got the call, I was just done with class for the day,” said Horowitz. “I was excited to hear the news, but I had no idea what it meant. The process is kind of like dialysis, where both arms are hooked up, one is the external, and then one is the internal, and the blood processes through. It goes through machine, filters out the stem cells.”

They weren’t allowed to contact each other for a year. Then, one day, Horowitz was sent his phone number.

“I was sitting at my house in Virginia and I got the text message with his information,” said Horowitz. “They were like ‘You should contact him first’ and I was like ‘Ok I will!’, Then we ended up on the phone for two hours.”

It’s been four years since that fateful swab was taken. Kevin Mitchell is now cancer-free. All this time, they’ve never met in person until Wednesday night.

“He kept saying to me that ‘Your blood is in me,” said Horowitz. “I don’t think I realized how meeting him would make me feel until we were standing there on the court together,” said Horowitz.

Mitchell said he feels a special bond with Horowitz.

“She’s one of us, and she’s inside me, you know? And, yeah, it’s she’s in our life forever,” said Mitchell.

Horowitz said that she enjoyed meeting Mitchell.

“There was just so much clarity and so much reward, and he gives such good hugs!” said Horowitz.

“It’s called the gift of life for a reason, and that’s what she’s done,” said Mitchell.

Mitchell said they now have a bond that will be there for life.