PU Football Supports Running Back Culbreath

Yesterday, the Times of Trenton published a feature about senior Jordan Culbreath, Princeton's All-Ivy running back--and it's worth a read. After he was injured in the second game of the season against Lehigh, Culbreath, Princeton's first Ivy League rushing champion since 2002, was diagnosed with aplastic anemia and bone marrow failure. I don't really know anything about football--to be honest, I have only the vaguest inkling of what a rushing champion is--but this story goes beyond sports.

Aplastic anemia is a bone marrow condition where your body stops producing enough blood cells, leaving you feeling weak and fatigued. According to a website set up by Culbreath's family, he has Aplastic Anemia/PNH, a rare condition where the immune system attacks the bone marrow, causing anemia.On the website, Culbreath, who is being treated with immunosuppresant therapy at the National Institutes of Health Clinic in Bethesda, Md., has a journal, where he posts updates about his progress.With Culbreath in the hospital, the football team is "day-to-day," according to the article, and head coach Roger Hughes has been making moves to help inform and support his players, including having a doctor speak to the team about Culbreath's condition.

"I think a lot of things are going through the kids' minds," Hughes said, "(like), "Could that happen to me? If he was our leader and he's done everything right -- he's a poster boy -- why would that happen to him? Is Jordan going to be OK?' I think all those questions are going through their minds and, as men, sometimes we suppress those feelings and don't get them out."