DANA LEE | SPORTS EDITOR | delee1@butler.edu

Congregated inside a sold-out Hinkle Fieldhouse for one of the last home games of the year, Butler fans welcomed 4-year-old Deegan Scott and his parents, Cliff and Amy, during a media timeout of the Butler-Providence game on Feb. 17.

Standing next to the Scott family was Samantha Smith, the wife of former Butler player Andrew Smith. Andrew’s battle with cancer inspired Project 44 — the reason why Deegan could be at Hinkle. Named in honor of Andrew’s number, it is Project 44’s goal to save 44 lives by matching 18,920 bone marrow registry members to patients.

Diagnosed with acute myeloid leukemia when he was two years old, Deegan received a bone marrow transplant that changed everything. The donor? Chase Stigall, a former Butler teammate of Andrew Smith.

Deegan represents the first match of Project 44 on its journey to save 43 more lives.

Find more information about Project 44 and its mission here

Join Be The Match’s bone marrow registry here or text ‘ANDREW’ to 38470

Photos by Jimmy Lafakis