“I always felt very fortunate that every time I needed a transfusion there was blood available for me,” Diego explains. “I have benefitted from the generosity of so many selfless donors. Even today, I depend on them. Every time I needed them, they have been my bridge to stability and helping my body recover.”
Blood Donation Competition Presented by Abbott, the Big 10 Conference, Rutgers Athletics, RWJBarnabas Health and New York Blood Center Seeks to Boost National Blood Supplies
North Plainfield Man Battling Leukemia on a Life-Saving Mission to Encourage Blood Donations During Big 10 “We Give Blood” Competition
Diego Orozco knows firsthand that every blood donation offers new hope for cancer patients like him. After battling leukemia and enduring three stem cell transplants, the 34-year-old North Plainfield resident has relied on countless blood transfusions to survive some of the most difficult moments of his cancer journey.
Today, as he continues to move forward with resilience and gratitude, Orozco is using his experience to advocate for more blood donors, reminding others that a simple act of generosity can help give patients like him a second chance—and, in many cases, save a life.
Following each transplant at Rutgers Cancer Institute and Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital (RWJUH), Diego needed multiple blood transfusions as his body struggled to produce its own blood.
“I always felt very fortunate that every time I needed a transfusion there was blood available for me,” Diego explains. “I have benefitted from the generosity of so many selfless donors. Even today, I depend on them. Every time I needed them, they have been my bridge to stability and helping my body recover.”
Diego, who is currently recovering from his third stem cell transplant, encourages any individual who is eligible to donate blood and blood products to support the Abbott and Big Ten "We Give Blood" initiative, a nationwide competition to turn school pride into life-saving action by addressing national blood shortages. The competition is presented by Abbott, the Big 10 Conference, Rutgers Athletics, RWJBarnabas Health Blood Services and New York Blood Center.
To participate in the “We Give Blood” competition, Rutgers students, fans, alumni and anyone who wishes to support patients like Diego, can donate anytime between Aug. 26-Dec. 4 at blood drives or blood centers across the U.S. It only takes three easy steps to participate:
1. Donate blood at any blood drive or blood center in the U.S. between August 26 and December 4, 2026.
2. Take a photo or save your donation confirmation.
3. Log your donation at www.BigTen.org/Abbott or text GIVEBLOOD to 222688 (ABBOTT).
The winner of the “We Give Blood” drive will be announced at the Big Ten Championship Game on December 5 in Indianapolis. The winning school will receive $1 million from Abbott to advance student or community health. Donations will be tracked on a live leaderboard at BigTen.Org/Abbott throughout the campaign.
Diego, 34, was diagnosed with leukemia in 2018 after he experienced shoulder pain that wouldn’t go away.
“It (the pain) began traveling up my neck and it became difficult to turn my head,” Diego recalls, “A week later, I woke up sweating and thought it was just the heat.”
He also experienced crushing fatigue.
“I remember inviting a friend over to watch the Spain-Portugal World Cup match,” Diego says. “Once it was over, I went to lay down and I slept through the afternoon.”
When Diego’s mother returned home that day, she knew something was seriously wrong with her son and brought him to an area hospital. While there, Diego remembers a blur of activity which included many rounds of tests and visits from multiple clinicians.
“The charge nurse came in and said something is very off with the lab results – she said it could align with a leukemia diagnosis,” Diego explains. “My first thought was, okay, what do we have to do next?”
Throughout his journey fighting leukemia, Diego believes firmly in what he calls “serendipitous coincidences” that assure him “everything will be okay.”
The first of these happened that night when a staff oncologist came in to speak with him.
“He said this will sound odd, but I don’t want you here,” Diego remembers. “I want to transfer you to RWJUH and Rutgers Cancer Institute. You will have a very good chance of fighting this there.”
Because Diego is Latino it was difficult to find a matching stem cell donor for him,
“In the Latino population, the probability of finding a match drops drastically – from 79% in the Caucasian population to 48% in the Hispanic/Latino population,” Diego says.
Diego received a transplant in October 2018 from stem cells that were harvested from an umbilical cord. Diego recovered at home for 10 months. He was able to go out more and socialize between 2019 and 2020, then the COVID pandemic hit. He was eligible for the first round of COVID vaccines that became available but still needed many blood transfusions.
“My body wasn’t producing enough hemoglobin and platelets – I was really dependent on it,” Diego says.
Unfortunately, Diego relapsed in 2021 and he needed a second stem cell transplant. Another “serendipitous coincidence” occurred for Diego this time around as he sought a stem cell donor. His brother, who just turned 18 and was too young to donate when Diego needed his first transplant, was a match.
During the next three years, Diego recovered nicely. He says this period was the closest he came to achieving complete independence from his medications. Then, he relapsed again in 2024. He returned to Rutgers Cancer Institute where his doctors and care team gave him hope. He underwent his third stem cell transplant in December 2025, which has been successful so far.
“Dr. Egini (Hematologist/Oncologist Ogechukwu Egini, MD), Joyce Herrera and Colleen Mernar were all fantastic and instrumental in my recovery - they were 100 percent committed to this third transplant,” Diego says. “In my heart of hearts, I didn’t feel like this was the end and this was worth fighting for.”
Throughout his journey there has been another constant – his wife of one year, Mariajose.
“We started dating in 2021 just before my first relapse,” Diego recalls. “She told me that she wishes she was there for me during my first transplant and after the relapse, I joked, be careful what you wish for. But she hasn’t looked back ever since. During my third transplant she stayed with me every day from July 2025 to January 2026.”