The following feature written by Mark Singelais appeared in the Albany Times Union on April 11, 2025 

Siena men's lacrosse player Tahnaokata Elijah walked into a routine team film session on campus in April 2023. At least he thought it was routine.

He didn't realize it would be the first step of trying to save a cancer patient's life.

Elijah and his teammates were greeted by University at Albany ambassadors for Gift of Life, a nonprofit organization with the mission of curing blood cancer through cellular therapy.

Invited by Siena coach Liam Gleason, who is registered with Gift of Life, the ambassadors offered Siena players the chance to become potential stem-cell donors. Most of the team agreed. Elijah stepped outside the room to have the inside of his mouth swabbed with a Q-tip for about 30 seconds.

"I didn't think much of it at first," Elijah said. "I thought, that's a good thing to do, to be out there, just in case."

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