Greg Pane is a diehard Orlando City fan.

As a season ticket holder from day one, and a member of the fan group the Ruckus, Pane “bleeds” purple on a daily basis. He rarely misses a beat on Orlando City news and transactions, supporting the club whenever and wherever he goes.

But more recently, that “bleeding” is done in a way that is more important than any sporting match.

Pane began donating blood two years ago, starting with platelets at Florida’s Blood Centers. After being a regular at the donation center, the doctors asked him if he’d like to be a part of the bone marrow program. He quickly accepted and was put on the list.

“You never know when it’ll be you that needs these kinds of donations,” Pane said in a phone interview with Orlandocitysoccer.com.

After going through the process of becoming a donor, Pane found out he could be a potential match with a woman in her mid-40s who has aplastic anemia- a condition where bone marrow doesn’t produce sufficient new cells to replenish blood cells.

Pane went through a series of tests to confirm the initial findings.
“They told me I was a match,” he said. “I didn’t really think about anything else besides ‘I need to get to the tests as soon as I can.’ Every minute counts.”

He’s never met the recipient of his bone marrow donation.

On Saturday, the season ticket holder started taking injections for his procedure on Thursday and Friday.

“It’s a process,” he said. “I’ll be in a chair each day with needles in both arms for around four hours at a time.”

Pane will be going through a new type of bone marrow transplant, one opposite of the traditional five injections in a single series. The process during this week alone will take around 13 hours to complete. All of this is done on his own time.

We asked Pane, “If you could tell everyone about the donation process, what would you say?” He responded with a quick answer – one that reflects on his humble personality.

“It’s just the right thing to do,” he said. “I’m just happy to help.”

Check back on Orlandocitysoccer.com later on for more updates on Pane and the donation. If you’d like to see more information on bone marrow donation, you can visit Florida’s Blood Centers website by clicking here.  along with visiting www.BeTheMatch.org for additional info.