 He's happy. He's loving. He's caring. He's, he's amazing. I mean, honestly. Family and community members, including those from Preston's Bergs, police and fire stations, came out in support of Blade Codel, a 17-year-old who will be receiving a blood stem cell transplant next month. We are excited for the parade today and I know he's going to be tickled to see the fire trucks and the firefighters and all that. I know it's going to really make his day. And I know with everything going on, he'll have to be in the hospital for six months. The fire trucks and stuff will really just help him with it. Following over 232 surgeries to help treat a disorder known as DeGeorge syndrome, Codel has developed a rare form of blood cancer known as MDS, or Myelodysplastic syndrome. With the donor match, I didn't really have to do much because Cincinnati Children's Hospital was able to get a hold of being the match and they was able to find a donor that matched his anomalies and stuff that's in his blood. Here at Pikeville Medical Center's Heart and Vascular Institute, we have assembled a comprehensive team of cardiac specialists bringing expertise from all regions of the nation and the world. We have coupled that with cutting-edge technology, providing them the best equipment and operating rooms available. The result is comprehensive cardiac care for the people of our region that is second to none. The Heart and Vascular Institute at Pikeville Medical Center. With help from Be the Match, Codel will go to receive the help he needs. Afterward, we spoke with Lee Liaison of Be the Match, Linda Alexander, about the program. Basically, at Be the Match, we save lives through cellular therapy. What that means is that the cells that we are able to transplant into patients with blood cancers, blood diseases, the immune system, basically, of the donor goes in and kills off the disease cells. There's not enough people in the registry. There's about 10,000 people a year that need a transplant. Last year, we facilitated a record number 6,649. But you can see there's a gap of about 3,000 people that we couldn't find a match for. And so a lot of it is just lack of education, lack of knowledge, and understanding as to how to even join the registry. So I come out to meet people and share information about Be the Match, hopefully motivate them to join. If you are interested in joining Be the Match, you can text 4Blade at 61474. For Mountain Top News, I'm Joel Korgel.