BHS grad donates to save a life

Jack Knispels list got a little shorter this month.

Numbered 1-50, the list is a collection of goals the 2011 Beatrice High School graduate composed his senior year of things he hoped to achieve in his life.

His parents held onto the list after Jack graduated, and are proud to say three of those items can now be crossed off:

27. Be someones hero.

46. Make my parents proud.

49. Make a difference in someones life.

I think that says a lot about our son and the kind of person he is, said his mother, Judy Knispel. If this saves somebodys life, its an awesome thing.

On Dec. 2, Jack underwent a peripheral blood stem cell transplantation (PBSCT) to save the life of a 74-year-old stranger.

Closely related to a bone marrow transplant without the need to harvest marrow from inside bone, Jack said the PBSCT consisted of extraction from his right arm in a similar fashion as giving blood. He donated a total of 12 liters, while blood was returned to his left arm. The process took a total of around four hours, but required a lot of preparation.

There were multiple blood tests to make sure the match was 100 percent.

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BHS grad donates to save a life