It’s that perseverance and commitment to positivity that have struck so many throughout Sager’s fight – including longtime TNT colleague Charles Barkley, who defied his own doctor’s orders by traveling, less than a month removed from hip replacement surgery, to be by Sager’s side after learning that Sager’s wife, Stacy, had been sent away after coming down with a cold that Sager’s doctors didn’t want him to catch.
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The procedure Craig Sager underwent Wednesday was rare: a third bone-marrow transplant.
“Thanks to an anonymous donor, tmrw my Dad will enter an unimaginable milestone w/ his 3rd bone marrow/stem cell transplant in a 3year span”, Sager II said. Sager underwent his third bone marrow transplant Wednesday, Aug. 31, 2016, as he continues to battle acute myeloid leukemia.
“OK, third time’s the charm”, Sager said moments after the process began at about 11:30 a.m. CT at MD Anderson Cancer Center Houston, Texas, according to the Associated Press.
The procedure was meant to prepare the colorful National Basketball Association sideline reporter to undergo the third transplant this month in his fight against leukemia, initially diagnosed in 2014.
This time, the popular sideline reporter had an anonymous benefactor, one the Associated Press described as a 20-year-old who “was considered a ideal match”. “It’s less than 1 percent of the total number of transplants”, Dr. Muzaffar Qazilbash, Sager’s stem cell transplantation physician told the AP. Going through three bone marrow transplants is pretty much unheard of because of how hard it can be to find a match.
“I’m supposed to be smiling for this?”
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TNT sideline analyst Craig Sager known for his unique style is now also known for his strong fight against leukemia. Though he’s had to take some time off because of the disease, he’s managed to work often since his diagnosis, including April’s Final Four in Houston and the NBA Finals in June.
