Earl Young won a gold medal in the 4x400 relay at the 1960 Olympics in Rome. Today, the 80-year-old calls Dallas home, and frankly, says he is thankful for making it this far.
Young visited the doctor in 2011 for a nagging cough, and after being referred to Texas Oncology for more tests, was diagnosed with acute myeloid leukemia. He was told he had three months to live.
Doctors told Young that a bone marrow transplant might save his life, and after a search of 22 million potential donors, one was a match. A donation from a woman in Frankfurt was flown to Dallas, and it saved Young's life.
Now, Young wants to make sure other blood cancer patients can find the matches that might save their lives, so he started Earl Young's Team, a nonprofit that visits predominately faith-based college campuses to educate students on the need for bone marrow donors and how they can help.
Young told NBC DFW, "We go to the faith-based organizations because many of the students go to Chapel. So we go there and talk to them about how they might be able to save a life."
Through the efforts of Young's foundation, 16,000 students have been swabbed to be added to the donor registry, which means 61 people have been given a chance at a longer life.
