09/28/2026
"My name is Cole, and I am 25 years old. I live in Connecticut with my girlfriend, and I work for a private wealth management team here in the city. But before any of that, before the career, the apartment, the life I’m building, there was soccer.
For as long as I can remember, soccer was everything to me. It was my first language, my closest friend, and the lens through which I understood the world. As a goalkeeper, I had the extraordinary privilege of competing at the highest level, representing the United States on the Under-14 and Under-16 national teams, and going on to play six years of college soccer. Every single one of those moments, the early mornings, the long bus rides, the teammates who became brothers, was made possible in part by the generosity of a donor family who gave a piece of their loved one so that I could continue doing what I loved most.
At 16, I was diagnosed with an osteochondral defect in my left knee. I remember the silence of that doctor’s office like it was yesterday. Eight months on the sideline felt like an eternity when soccer was your entire identity. But a family I will never meet chose, in one of the hardest moments of their lives, to give, and that gift carried me through six more years of the sport I loved.
When that cartilage finally gave out near the end of my final season, I won’t pretend it didn’t break something in me. The pain was physical, yes, but it was also something deeper. Soccer was over. The chapter I had devoted my whole life to was closing, and I wasn’t sure what came next or who I was without it. On top of that, the physical pain I had to live through for the past year and a half made life feel all but hopeless. There were genuinely dark days.
Because of this gift, I have a future that feels full again. I can go to the gym, hike trails, and move through the world with hope instead of hurt. I think often about the children I hope to have someday, chasing them around a backyard, teaching them to love being active, and I know that those moments will only exist because of what your family chose to do.
What my donor gave wasn’t just tissue or cartilage, it was a second chance at a life lived fully. My donor lives on in that gift, and I will carry it with me, and honor it, for the rest of my life."
