‘He’s my hero’: How Wings player Alex Pace saved the life of a man he’d never met

In 2019, as Alex Pace and his friend walked across Brock University’s campus in St. Catharines, Ontario, something caught their attention. The school was hosting a stem cell drive, and everybody who signed up got a free slice of pizza.

Pace and his buddy took their swabs to enter the Canadian Blood Services system, got their pizza, and continued their day.

It was a few-minute process that had little significance then, but years later would become a life-saving decision. That swab would lead to Alex Pace, a defenseman who was drafted that year by the Philadelphia Wings of the National Lacrosse League, donating stem cells to Tom Mix, a Connecticut man battling leukemia.

Now, more than two years after the bone marrow transplant and with Mix cancer-free, the duo have fostered a friendship through their unique connection.

» READ MORE: Wings rookie Taggart Clark makes his home debut against the Firewolves — and his father

It was 2021, two years after Pace entered the registry, when he got the phone call.

“When I first got it, I was like, ‘Is this legit?’ Because I honestly forgot I did it,” Pace told The Inquirer. “And then they said, ‘Yeah, this is Canadian Blood Services, you’re a potential match. If you’re interested, we just need to do a blood test.’ I was all-in.”

Pace, a native of Halifax, Nova Scotia, knew the degree to which donating could help. His dad had a friend who received bone marrow that cured his cancer. Additionally, Pace was completing a degree in medical science, so he was well-versed in the field.

He took the blood test and was told that he was the best match. He underwent additional tests and passed all of them, clearing the way for his donation.

Because of various regulations, Pace wasn’t allowed to know who was receiving his stem cells, but he didn’t mind.

On Oct. 8, 2021, Pace started the first of four to five days of injections that boosted the stem cell count in his blood. On the first day of injections, Pace missed Brock’s rivalry game against Western University, which his team lost, 15-8.

“It was a pretty small sacrifice for me to miss one game to be able to make sure that the donation went well,” he said.

On Oct. 12, Pace arrived around 7 a.m. for the extraction, which took about seven hours. The process is called peripheral blood stem cell donation (PBSC), which involves taking blood and passing it through a machine that collects only the blood-forming cells.

“Sometimes it’s a misconception,” said Kate McDermott of the National Marrow Donor Program — formerly Be The Match — which is the organization that helped Mix find his match. “People think that the donation process is this super-involved process or it’s a surgical procedure. But 90% of the time now, it is that … PBSC.”

The goal of the donation was 5 million cells, but Pace gave them 30 million. When Mix received the cells, he was told, “Wow, you have like a super donor.”

» READ MORE: Yo Philly, say what’s up to the Waterdogs, your new Premier Lacrosse League team

Two days after the donation, Brock had a rematch against Western. Pace felt good, so he played. He scored a hat trick and added four assists in a 13-8 win. His teammates deemed it the Stem Cell Game.

“You get a lot of praise and people are saying it’s a heroic thing, which it is for sure, but I think I feel more blessed that I was able to be his match,” Pace said.

“I feel kind of lucky that I happened to be at school that day. I think it just shows how important it is to get yourself in the registry, because you really never know when you could get that call and save someone’s life. It’s definitely really impacted me, and I know it’s impacted Tom and his family,” Pace said.

Mix received the transplant in November of 2021, and one year later, he and Pace were allowed to release their information, which they both did. Pace was hesitant to reach out, but his parents encouraged him to do so, so he sent Mix an email.

Mix waited until he was fully healthy, which was about six months later, to contact Pace. They met over a video call, joined by Mix’s family, and Pace now had the other side of the story.

Mix was a father of four, including three lacrosse players, from Brookfield, Conn. He was 51 when he got the transplant and had always been pretty healthy.

In November 2020, Mix got COVID-19 and was hospitalized twice. The doctors noticed that his blood counts were off. They thought that was because of COVID, but in January 2021, he was diagnosed with leukemia.

Mix underwent chemotherapy for about 10 months. The first round didn’t go well, so he started a different regimen. He eventually got close to zero cancer cells, so he entered the hospital for two days of intense chemo to bring his entire body down to zero. Then came the transplant.

To find a match, Yale New Haven Hospital first tested his family, but nobody was a fit. From there, they went to the National Marrow Donor Program, which has a vast registry that included Pace from the Canadian Blood Services.

Mix likened the transplant to giving blood. There was an IV in his arm and the cells went through a tube into him, which took only about 15 minutes.

In the transplant, the DNA changes, and that process is called engraftment. It usually takes 30 to 35 days, but Mix engrafted 99% in the first week and was released in 17 days, the quickest ever from Yale.

“I don’t have any of my DNA, other than my fingerprints still being the same,” Mix said. “Everything genetically about me is now Alex’s DNA.”

The transplant worked, and now Mix and Pace are connected for life.

“The impact upon hearing about me and meeting me, I think it was kind of like ‘Holy [cow],’” Mix said. “‘Wow. I just saved somebody’s life.’ [He] gave my daughters and my son the opportunity for me to be around, and my wife. The ripple effect of doing something like this is as far as the eye could see.”

» READ MORE: ‘You make that team ... You’re a pretty special player’: Flyers’ Scott Laughton was a lacrosse star first

Pace, now 26, and Mix met in person at the Wings’ season opener on Dec. 16, 2023. Pace’s parents came in for the game, and Mix brought about a dozen family members, including his daughter who had a sign that said, “Brothers at first match.” Another sign read, “Pizza saved my life,” referencing Pace’s free slice after that initial swab in college.

Through the Pace-Mix story, the Wings partnered with the NMDP for a game where a station would be set up in the concourse of the Wells Fargo Center so people could register. It was initially scheduled for Jan. 13, but that game was postponed because of weather issues for the visiting team. (Mix had already made the trip to Philadelphia, so he was able to catch up with Pace again.)

The official NMDP game came on March 23, against Vancouver, and Mix was present with some family members. An NMDP graphic with Mix was featured on the big screen, and the Wings’ social media posted about the story.

“It kind of just makes you realize things are bigger than lacrosse or bigger than sports,” Pace said. “It wasn’t long after [the game] Tom had celebrated his birthday, so I think it was pretty special, celebrating his birthday this year cancer-free. He reached out to me about that and just all these different things that he’s going through in his life and experiences. His kids graduating, going to university, all those things.

“Whenever I get to see him, it’s a nice feeling. They just bring so much joy, and it makes me really feel the impact I had on him and his family. So that’s pretty cool.”

The NMDP game was the third in-person visit for Pace and Mix. They talk three to four times a week sometimes.

Seeing Pace is “awesome every time,” Mix said. “He’s so gracious. He’s so easygoing and really thoughtful. Spends a little bit of time with everybody in my entourage. It’s great. I mean, he’s just a great guy.”

Then he paused for a second.

“He’s my hero.”