The name Sam Cochran likely makes you think of the former Chief of Police in Mobile and Sheriff of Mobile County. I want to introduce you to a different Sam Cochran, whose heroism goes back to the late 1980s. Sam had a radio career on-air in that time, at several Mobile stations. I owned WDLT 98.3 Lite Rock from 1986-1992; Sam was our on-air morning DJ and Prog. Dir. Maybe you remember him; maybe, too, you remember Ethelyn B Hayes. You can read more about her online, but, briefly, she was a leukemia victim, and a significant amount of publicity was generated for the cause of saving her life. Finding a bone-marrow donor matchup was the focal point of that campaign.
I thought our station should get involved, and Sam agreed. He did lots of PSAs, and live-broadcasts from locations where people were encouraged to come in and go into the national bone-marrow registry, in hopes of a "match up" with a potential recipient.... realizing, of course, that there was a very, very small chance that might happen. Once Sam went all out for this worthy cause, he felt he, too, should go into the registry. Although no match was found for Ms. Hayes, and she eventually passed away, Sam, miraculously, was matched up with a young man in Minnesota. He went to the center in Kansas City, and donated marrow.
Again, the vast majority of people who provide a blood sample into the registry are never matched up. Amazingly, though, Sam matched up a SECOND TIME, this time with an infant in Canada, a couple of years later. He is one of very, very few people who have become donors twice. Talk about a life-changing experience! Publicity surrounding this event made its way onto the broadcast networks and USA Today.
Sam's career now has him in a non-radio position in the Dothan area, though he still dabbles in an Ozark oldies FM station. He was recently in town to address the Eastern Shore Newcomers Club about the Ethelyn B Hayes Memorial Endowment Fund at the USA Mitchell Cancer Institute. I attended, and was glad to re-live what were the proudest moments of my 4-decade radio career (though I hasten to add, the true credit belongs to Sam). I encourage you to watch a 5 minute video, which you can find by googling something like "Sam Cochran Ethelyn Hays Mitchell Cancer Institute."
Such an inspiration will remind those of you active in radio, that your facility has the potential to do something really wonderful.
Post-Script #1: it was great to learn that both marrow-donor recipients, from 25+ years ago, are still alive today, thanks to My Hero.
Post-Script #2: Sam told me of a reunion gathering of old radio folks, Friday Nov 2 at T P Crockmire's in Mobile. He will be back in town for the event, and I plan to attend also. See you there?
I thought our station should get involved, and Sam agreed. He did lots of PSAs, and live-broadcasts from locations where people were encouraged to come in and go into the national bone-marrow registry, in hopes of a "match up" with a potential recipient.... realizing, of course, that there was a very, very small chance that might happen. Once Sam went all out for this worthy cause, he felt he, too, should go into the registry. Although no match was found for Ms. Hayes, and she eventually passed away, Sam, miraculously, was matched up with a young man in Minnesota. He went to the center in Kansas City, and donated marrow.
Again, the vast majority of people who provide a blood sample into the registry are never matched up. Amazingly, though, Sam matched up a SECOND TIME, this time with an infant in Canada, a couple of years later. He is one of very, very few people who have become donors twice. Talk about a life-changing experience! Publicity surrounding this event made its way onto the broadcast networks and USA Today.
Sam's career now has him in a non-radio position in the Dothan area, though he still dabbles in an Ozark oldies FM station. He was recently in town to address the Eastern Shore Newcomers Club about the Ethelyn B Hayes Memorial Endowment Fund at the USA Mitchell Cancer Institute. I attended, and was glad to re-live what were the proudest moments of my 4-decade radio career (though I hasten to add, the true credit belongs to Sam). I encourage you to watch a 5 minute video, which you can find by googling something like "Sam Cochran Ethelyn Hays Mitchell Cancer Institute."
Such an inspiration will remind those of you active in radio, that your facility has the potential to do something really wonderful.
Post-Script #1: it was great to learn that both marrow-donor recipients, from 25+ years ago, are still alive today, thanks to My Hero.
Post-Script #2: Sam told me of a reunion gathering of old radio folks, Friday Nov 2 at T P Crockmire's in Mobile. He will be back in town for the event, and I plan to attend also. See you there?