Swarthmore Club Fencing Coach Marshal Davis Meets Bone Marrow Donor-Recipient
Downers Grove, Ill. – Marshal Davis, the head coach of the Swarthmore College club fencing team, barely remembered participating in a bone marrow drive at the University of Florida Hillel in 2002. Nearly 10 years later when he found out that his bone marrow was a “near-perfect match” for one anonymous donor-recipient, he didn’t think twice about donating to help save a life.
“For me it was a no brainer; to be uncomfortable for a month or whatever so that I can save a life … was really an easy choice,” said Davis.
Last weekend while traveling to Chicago with the Swarthmore fencing team for the USACFC Nationals, Davis got to meet the recipient of his recent bone marrow donation for the first time - a seven-year-old boy named Jacob Kowalik of Downers Grove, Illinois.
Davis had been in contact with the Kowalik family since February and the two parties decided to meet while Davis was in the Chicago area. The first meeting between the one-time strangers took place on Friday at the family’s home.
Jacob was diagnosed with MDS pre-AML Leukemia in June 2009. Thanks to Davis’ bone marrow donation and subsequent transplant, Jacob’s chances of recovery are significantly improved.
Davis didn’t know the age, gender or circumstances of the person that he would be donating to; all he knew is that he could save a life. It wasn’t until a year later that Davis found out who had received his bone marrow.
“A month after my donation, all I knew is that the patient was doing OK. Six months later, they gave me another update and said he was still doing OK. They said he had some minor complications but …that the cancer did not return,” said Davis.
As for the fencing team, the young Garnet excelled at the championship meet over the weekend. The women's sabre, women's epee, and men's foil squads all made the round of final 8 on Sunday, and all six weapon squads made it to the elimination rounds on Sunday. Kevin Buczkowski '13 won an individual men's sabre medal in the Saturday evening individual event, and Morgan Sulerzyski '12 made it to the individual final for women's epee. Overall, the Swat women finished in sixth place and the men finished 11th.
“I think it’s remarkable that we are one of the newest programs in the country, have likely the smallest student body of any participating school to draw fencers from, and we finished as the sixth best overall team in the nation in just our fourth year of existence, “ said Davis.
In his fourth year as coach after starting the fencing teams at Swarthmore, Davis has build up the program to the point where it is competitive at the national level. Last year, Swarthmore hosted the 2010 Fencing National Championships, the largest in the event’s history.
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