Every year since 2017, the Florida Panthers offer Gift of Life Marrow Registry the opportunity to bring together a lifesaving stem cell or marrow donor and the stranger whose life they saved during Hockey Fights Cancer Night.

On October 22, 2024 at the Amerant Bank Arena in Sunrise, Fla., two-time cancer survivor and Miami resident Carolyn Binker, 41, met the man who gave her a second chance at life, 25-year-old Erik Haugen of Mill Creek, Wash.

The two were introduced on the arena’s upper-level platform in full view of the entire audience, and their huge hug, smiles and emotional tears drew loud cheers and applause from the fans.

Carolyn was diagnosed with acute myeloid leukemia on February 6, 2024 – five years to the day since her breast cancer diagnosis in 2018.

“I felt angry and devastated,” said Carolyn. “Our family had been through so much with my previous cancer diagnosis and I worked so hard to beat it, this was like a slap in the face. I knew I had to fight to stay around for my family.”

Because Carolyn was an only child there was no chance of finding a related match within her family, and she needed a transplant from a stranger who would have to remain anonymous for the next year. Fortunately, Erik was already in Gift of Life’s registry waiting to be found.

“When they told me they had found a donor, I was ecstatic!” she said. “I know there are many people who wait a long time to find a match, so to find someone as fast as they did was extremely exciting. I am very fortunate.”

Erik had joined Gift of Life’s registry in 2017 during a World Marrow Donor Day recruitment drive at the California Lutheran University where he was an undergraduate.

“It sounded like a great program, it was easy to sign up, and my cousin was a match and had donated in the past,” said Erik. “I was called as a match once before, but I didn’t donate that first time. However, this time, when I matched Carolyn, I got to help provide her with a life-supporting treatment – that’s an incredible feeling!”

Erik donated blood stem cells at Gift of Life’s collection center in Boca Raton, Fla., little knowing that the patient receiving the cells was being treated only miles away at the Miami Cancer Institute.

Carolyn and Erik’s emotional meeting was not only showered with applause by the Florida Panther’s fans but was also shown nationally on ESPN2 and by Jose Diaz-Balart during NBC’s special weekend segment, “There’s Good News Tonight”.

Erik is a resident of Mill Creek, Wash., where he is in graduate school training as a physical therapist. His undergraduate degree is from California Lutheran University. He enjoys spending time walking with his dog, snowboarding, fly fishing and visiting breweries.

Carolyn is married to Brian and is the mother of two children. Their family lives in Cutler Bay, Fla. She is a Scentsy Independent Consultant, and a graduate of the University of Miami. Her hobbies include music, arts and crafts, gardening and playing Pokémon Go!

Thank you to the Florida Panthers for making this a special night for our donor and recipient, and for always helping to spread the word about our lifesaving mission.

Thank you, NBC News, for sharing Carolyn and Erik’s inspiring story across the country.