Being the Match: How Gabe Murdough Helped Save a Life

Every three to four minutes, someone in the United States is diagnosed with blood cancer.

Many of those diagnosed with blood cancer need a blood stem cell, or bone marrow, transplant. A transplant can cure or treat 75-plus diseases, including blood cancers such as leukemia and other blood disorders, like sickle cell. These transplants save lives.

In steps the organization NMDP, formerly known as Be The Match, which matches patients with donors, as 75% fail to find a suitable donor in their family. The NMDP Registry of potential donor matches is their vital link to the world’s most diverse pool of potential matches.

NMDP’s Get in the Game initiative uses the power and influence of college athletics to recruit students to join the NMDP Registry as potential blood stem cell donors. New England College first hosted an NMDP registry event in 2023 and has continued to partner with the live-saving organization each year since.

In October 2025, sophomore Gabe Murdough joined many of his football teammates in attending one of these Get in the Game informational presentations right here on campus. Shortly thereafter, Gabe was signed up and swabbed, knowing the odds of him being a match were miniscule.

Murdough continued on with his year, completing his first football season and later wrapping up his freshman year in Henniker. He was working at a summer camp in his hometown of Dover, New Hampshire, when he missed a phone call from an unknown number.

The voicemail left on his phone defied the odds: He was a match. The rising sophomore couldn’t believe it; he questioned if the call was a joke, or a really good scam. But then he received a follow-up, and Murdough began to realize it was completely legit and totally nuts.

Gabe first had to get his blood drawn, so he visited a local clinic in Dover to confirm the match. The match was perfect and his date was set for September 8th. He would be forced to miss at least the first two games of the Pilgrims’ 2026 season, but Gabe knew it was an easy, live-saving decision.

He flew down to Florida the night before, getting to his hotel well after 10:00 p.m. with the procedure slated for early the following morning. He arrived at the facility at 8:30 a.m., got checked, and was brought to his room to get prepped for the non-surgical, six-plus hour-long procedure.

IVs were placed in both of his arms; blood was drawn from one arm, passed through an apheresis machine to separate and collect the valuable stem cells, before the blood was returned through the other arm.

A week after making his stem cell donation, Gabe received another phone call. He was told that his match received his stem cells the day after the procedure. While the identity of his match remains anonymous, Murdough knows that someone out there is receiving life-saving treatments because of his selfless act.

Gabe was cleared to play in NEC’s week three game against Fitchburg State—a 23-22 win which saw the sophomore make an impact with seven carries for 27 rushing yards. But his biggest impact this season came off the field.

Murdough’s donation provided someone in need with the opportunity for live-saving cell therapy and creates an example for others across campus to follow suit, join the registry, and make a difference. Gabe was also not the first Pilgrim student-athlete to be a match: Colin Shaw ’24 ’26, a former alpine skier and baseball player, donated last spring.

New England College will be hosting NMDP for the fourth time this October, providing students with a chance to learn more about these life-saving efforts and make the decision to register. Students can attend a training session on Monday, October 19, followed by the official event on Wednesday, October 21, taking place in front of the Gilmore Dining Hall.

You have the power to change lives. Use that power for good; join the movement here.

For continuing coverage of New England College Athletics, visit athletics.nec.edu and follow the Pilgrims on X, Facebook, and Instagram.