Transplant survivor Jon Richards, 53, and his stem cell donor Mary-Margaret “Maggie” McGowan, 24, will always remember November 3 as a special moment in their lives. So will legions of Nashville Predators fans who had the unique experience of witnessing their emotional first face-to-face meeting at Bridgestone Arena. This event was part of the annual “Hockey Fights Cancer” awareness night.

Jon was diagnosed in October 2022 with primary myelofibrosis (PMF), a rare bone marrow disorder that results in scarring within the marrow, leading to abnormal blood cell production that crowds out healthy cells and is life-threatening. The only potential cure is a blood stem cell or marrow transplant.

“I didn’t know what it all entailed at the time, and it is weird to explain: a cancer with no tumors, requiring a transplant with no surgery," said Jon. “The team was confident that a donor would be available on the registry, so that put me at ease.”

Fortunately, it did not take long to identify a match! Maggie was already in the registry, having swabbed at Vanderbilt University while she was a student in March 2021.

“I found out I was a match while I was visiting a friend in Zagreb, Croatia,” said Maggie. “My decision to move forward was immediate. I told everyone – my friends, parents, two brothers, and my grandmother. She reminded me of something she had told us:  ‘If there is something you can do to help someone else, you must always do it.’”

Jon and his wife Michele had a lot of help from family and friends when they had to relocate temporarily for the transplant.

“I’m a teacher, and the support I got from coworkers at school was phenomenal throughout my treatment,” he said. “The transplant itself was on December 20 and was very emotional. Eight million stem cells later, it was a great relief to have received the infusion of my donor’s cells.”

The moment finally arrived to meet each other during a break in the hockey game.  Jon was spotlighted as the announcer explained his transplant story, then Maggie was asked to come forward and meet him.

With huge smiles on their faces and a cheering stadium full of hockey fans, the two embraced and waved to the crowd. Later, they visited the donor recruitment table run by Gift of Life Campus Ambassadors from Vanderbilt University – Maggie’s alma mater – and talked to people who were swabbing to join the registry.

Since 2020, the Nashville Predators hockey team has partnered with Gift of Life to facilitate introductions between blood cancer patients and the stem cell and marrow donors who saved their lives. November is Hockey Fights Cancer Month, and these introductions help bring awareness to the need for more donors so that every person can find a match.

Maggie, 24, is attending the University of Texas Law School in Austin and is a graduate of Vanderbilt University. She is a member of the Alpha Delta Pi sorority. She loves history and enjoys reading and learning about the past, as well as playing the piano and singing. More than anything else, she enjoys spending time with her family, friends, and two dogs, Winston Churchill and Ruth Bader Ginsberg.

Jon, 53, is a teacher from Lexington, S.C., and a graduate of The Citadel, where he was a member of the India Company cadet corps. He is married to Michele, and they have “three pretty cool little dogs.” He is also a history buff and a living history reenactor specializing in the Revolutionary War. He’s also a long-time avid bicyclist and a Star Wars enthusiast.