A former Emporian who won a bout with leukemia — with help from a bone-marrow transplant — is a candidate for Man of the Year for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society.
Matthew D. Jones, son of Bob and Judy Jones of Emporia, was diagnosed with leukemia at the age of 23, during his senior year at Emporia State University. The cancer spread to the cerebral spinal fluid, and doctors were uncertain whether treatment would be successful.
Jones overcame the odds and the cancer went into remission after a successful bone marrow transplant. Today, he celebrated five years of being cancer-free.
He graduated from ESU in 2003 with a degree in communications and psychology and in 2007 received a master’s degree in liberal studies and organizational leadership from Fort Hays State University.
Jones, who lives in Costa Mesa, has set a goal of raising $10,000 in 10 weeks for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society Orange County/Inland Empire Chapter’s 2009 Man & Woman of the Year competition.
Three men and five women were chosen as candidates for the annual project, he said.
Kickoff for his campaign to be Man of the Year began today, Jones said in a telephone interview Monday afternoon. The campaign will end on June 26.
“I’m feelin’ great,” Jones said. “What they do is they look for some top community leaders, and also I had done a lot of work with the Leukemia-Lymphoma Society. Someone in the San Diego chapter actually recommended me.”
He and his wife, Ariella Rios Jones, met when they were students at Emporia State University. When he was diagnosed with leukemia, she started a foundation to help raise money for his treatment and brought in the donations needed to make it possible.
“Because of their help, I’m here today now going around ... helping other people,” he said. “If it wasn’t for their help, I wouldn’t be alive.”
Jones now is a professional speaker and author of three books, “Going Through Hell, Don’t Stop,” “Life Is a Marathon,” and “101 Timeless Truths.” He is working on a fourth, “Cancer Is a Marathon, 26.2 Strategies for Conquering Cancer.”
He travels the country, including a stop in Emporia last year for the Flint Hills Senior Fair for the Agency on Aging, to talk about his experiences during the cancer treatment and afterward, when his cancer went into remission. During the treatment process, Jones also suffered brain damage from an infection, which forced him to relearn how to walk. He since has completed the San Diego Rock n’ Roll Marathon and is in training to run the 2010 Rome Marathon.
“One of my lifetime goals is to run a marathon on every continent,” he said.
People who want to donate to his campaign for $10,000 can make online donations as http://ocie.llsevent.org/mjones or may send checks, made payable to the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society, to Matt Jones, 2360 Harbor Boulevard 101, Costa Mesa, CA 92626.