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Coach's New Life: Donor DNA Rewrites His Story
22 Oct
Summary
- A firefighter donated stem cells to a football coach battling rare cancer.
- The transplant dramatically altered the coach's DNA and blood type.
- The donor and recipient families met a year later, forming a new bond.
University of Houston football coach Donn Landholm, 69, received a life-saving stem cell transplant in February 2025, following his 2023 diagnosis of chronic myelomonocytic leukemia, a rare blood cancer. After exhausting other treatments, Landholm found hope in a matching donor through the National Marrow Donor Program.
Morgan Chalup, 38, a firefighter and EMT, had registered as a potential donor years earlier after her father-in-law's successful transplant. Unexpectedly receiving a match notification in late 2024, she underwent the donation process, which she described as similar to giving plasma.
The transplant, performed on February 4, 2025, resulted in Landholm receiving Chalup's stem cells, leading to a profound biological change where his DNA became her DNA. After a mandatory one-year waiting period for direct contact, Landholm and Chalup connected, leading to an emotional meeting of their families in Texas.
This September, a year after the transplant, the families united at the University of Houston, solidifying a bond that transcends their initial stranger status. Chalup expressed that meeting Landholm and his family felt like meeting long-lost relatives, highlighting the deep connection formed through this life-altering event.
