Winning the biggest battle

Back in April I wrote a story about a marrow donor drive the members of the Yale football team was taking part of. The inspiration in what proved to be an extraordinarily successful event was Yale women's hockey player Mandi Schwartz.

As I wrote the story, I had no way of knowing how it would all turn out. Leukemia is a tough obstacle for anybody to overcome but it warmed my heart when Sam Rubin of the Yale sports publicity department provided an update on Mandi's situation. I doubt that even her staunchest supporters expected to hear that she would be healthy and ready to enroll back at Yale in January or that she is planning to resume her playing career next season.

But that is exactly what is happening. With the news coming out right around Thanksgiving, I am sure than more than a few people affiliated with the Bulldogs' football and women's hockey programs cited Schwartz's remarkable recovery as a reason to be thankful.