One of the more uplifting stories of the 2019 offseason has seen yet another positive development.
Right around the Fourth of July holiday, USC confirmed that offensive lineman Austin Jackson would be donating his bone marrow to his sister, Autumn, the following week. The young lady has been battling a genetic condition called Diamond-Blackfan anemia, a very rare disease that attacks an individual’s bone marrow. So rare, in fact, that it affects just 5-7 per million newborn babies worldwide.
Earlier this month, Jackson returned to the Trojans football team following a procedure that was described as “a godsend” for his younger sibling.
From the Los Angeles Times:Less than a month after bone marrow was extracted through three points in his lower back, Jackson took the field Friday for USC’s first fall camp practice. The starting left tackle was able to work through most of the non-contact portions of practice. As he recovers from the surgery that could save his sister’s life, USC plans to take things slowly with his return.
Jackson spent most of this past summer back in Phoenix, awaiting word on when Autumn’s body would allow for the transplant. When the day finally came last month, the procedure took 3½ hours. It left him almost completely immobile for the next week, his lower back throbbing with pain.
“I had to come back out here and start my life back up,” Jackson said of returning to the practice field as the Trojans gear up for a make-or-break season under on-the-hot-seat Clay Helton. “That’s my focus now. My family told me to trust that my sister is going to be OK. They’re going to take care of her.”
Jackson started 12 games for the Trojans at left tackle last season. Despite missing time helping his sister, he’s still penciled in as the Trojans’ starter on the left side of the line again this year.