A life-changing decision for Mark Johnson could be a life-saving decision for a 5-year-old boy in Paris, France.
 
"No" would have been the easier answer, but "yes" was the response Johnson delivered with each question that came his way. Do you want to join the national bone marrow registry? Are you willing to do lab tests to confirm that you are a match? Are you willing to go through with the bone marrow donation? Faced with a decision where many would have selected the selfish route, the Valparaiso University football senior captain did not hesitate in choosing the selfless path.
 
If you follow Valpo football, you likely know the touching story of head coach Andy Waddle and his wife Kerry Jean, who had a rare bone marrow disease before receiving a life-saving donation from a man named Todd Spencer through a match identified by the national registry.
 
"Coach Waddle introduced us to the option of signing up for the national registry," Johnson said. "When he brought it to us, he made it clear it was optional for us to sign up for the program. Kerry Jean came in and told us her story, and it was very moving. Coach Waddle also mentioned that for Black people to find a match on the registry, there is less than a 30 percent chance, compared to a 75 percent chance for Caucasians. That was moving for me as a Black male to join the registry. It's very rare to get a call. I joined, and I knew that if I did get a call, I would be willing to donate."
 
About a year went by after Johnson joined the registry, then the email came. He learned that he was a potential match, and did a series of laboratory tests. He did not hear back for several months after that, so he was not sure if he was going to be the person identified as a match to donate for the child in need.
 
Earlier this summer, Johnson was about to begin his summer internship for Coca-Cola Consolidated in Charlotte, N.C. when he heard that he was a confirmed match. A donation date was set for June 29. At that time, Johnson was in the middle of his internship, which was only a nine-week program, but his internship manager was supportive and proud throughout the process. The most common method of bone marrow donation is outpatient and does not require surgery or anesthesia, but because of the patient's age, a surgical procedure including anesthesia was required for Johnson's donation.
 
Johnson made the sacrifice of going under for about an hour and a half, experiencing pain when he woke up and missing about a week of working out in order to help a 5-year-old child in need.
 
"Mark FaceTimed me from the hospital bed after he had donated and he was thanking me for the opportunity," Waddle said. "I was like, 'Oh gosh, Mark, thank you on so many levels.' I couldn't help but think about the other side of this story. That's the side I was on – we're telling the side of the hero, but the other side is a mother and father who find out their 5-year-old has a life-threatening disease and the only cure is a bone-marrow transplant, and knowing the demographic you have less than a 30 percent chance of finding a match. So many people go without finding a match. It's special to know that there was someone out there willing to say yes, and it's pretty remarkable for that person to be Mark."
 
Entering his fourth year in the program and second year as a team captain, Johnson has appeared in nearly every game throughout his time on campus and is a third-year starter in the defensive backfield. He has volunteered regularly with the Birmingham YMCA and with Harvest Food Bank in Nashville. He took on a leadership role in organizing Valpo's on-campus bone marrow drives. Through his internship this summer, he and his colleagues packed 2,500 meals for people in Charlotte who do not have access to food daily. They also worked with a nonprofit to get shoes to places in the world where shoes are not as easily accessible.
 
"It's hard to imagine somebody who would be a better hero than Mark Johnson," Waddle said. "He has been a selfless leader for our football team, and a lot of times leadership is putting yourself out there as a pioneer. For him to be our first player to be a match and go through with this is pretty remarkable. I think the reason he's thanking me is that it's a transformational life moment for the donor as well as the recipient. It's something that he's going to remember his entire life, and beyond that he becomes a different person as he goes forward. He's faced some fears and he's come out on the other side a better person."
 
As Johnson prepares for the start of fall preseason camp with his teammates and the start of his senior season fast approaches, he does so after going through something that puts everything into perspective.
 
"Sometimes our problems are a lot smaller than we realize," Johnson said. "A lot of people have it harder. I'm grateful for how I've been healthy and I'm grateful to be at a school and play for a team that cares about things like this. This makes you look at life a little differently and cherish things a lot more, understanding that people have it a lot worse than we do. When you're able to make a difference in someone's life, it's moving, and I couldn't be more grateful for the opportunity to have done that."