While many celebrities were celebrating Halloween weekend in Los Angeles, Jason Momoa returned home to Hawaii for a very good cause.
The 43-year-old actor appeared Friday at an event at Brigham Young University – Hawaii, to promote people enrolling in the bone marrow registry.
He did so on behalf of his longtime friend Travis Snyder, who suffers from leukemia, and a six-year-old boy named Rhyder Lopez, born with the ultra-rare genetic condition hemophagocytic lymphohistiocytosis (HLH).
Good cause: While many celebrities celebrated Halloween weekend in Los Angeles, Jason Momoa returned home to Hawaii for a very good cause
Momoa took to his Instagram over the weekend to share videos from the event and urge his 17.2 million followers to get involved with his Be The Match campaign.
Momoa sent the first video on Friday, which showed the hulking actor riding around campus on a motorbike to cheer on fans as he met young Rhyder Lopez.
“Mahalo Nui to @byuhawaii for hosting @bethematch, it was amazing meeting everyone in Laie yesterday, mahalo to everyone who came out to get dabbed,” Momoa said in the caption.
Rhyder: He did it on behalf of his longtime friend Travis Snyder, who suffers from leukemia, and a six-year-old boy named Rhyder Lopez (left), who was born with the ultra-rare genetic condition Lymphohistiocytosis hemophagocytic (HLH )
Involved: Momoa took to his Instagram over the weekend to share videos from the event and urge his 17.2 million followers to get involved with his Be The Match campaign
Meet Rhyder: Momoa sent the first video on Friday, which showed the hulking actor riding around campus on a motorbike to cheer on fans, as he met young Rhyder Lopez
“Hopefully one step closer to finding a match for Rhyder Lopez and @thetravissnyder, please!” Go to the link in bio and my story to learn more about how you could help become a superhero and save lives. Join the registry! Please do your part and make a difference and help out! Aloha I he concluded.
The video also showed Jason and Rhyder receiving leis while a haka was performed for them, before meeting Rhyder’s family and signing a number of autographs.
He also came out to meet his fans and thanked them for coming, adding that he would take a photo with anyone who got dabbed to try and “be the match”.
Autographs: The video also showed Jason and Rhyder receiving leis while a haka was performed on them, before meeting with Rhyder’s family and signing a number of autographs.
Fans: He also came out to meet his fans and thanked them for coming, adding that he would take a photo with anyone who got dabbed to try and ‘be the match’
“I get emotional when I think about it. If it’s my kids or your kids…it doesn’t take much. You just have to dab a cheek and you can save lives,” Momoa said.
“From the bottom of my heart, thank you for coming. I love you, Aloha!’ he told the group.
He was also seen hanging out while two fans were getting dabbed as they mentioned how easy the whole process was, showing them dabbing the inside of their cheek with a cotton swab.
Emotional: “I get emotional when I think about it. If it’s my children or your children… it doesn’t take much. You just have to dab one cheek and you can save lives,’ said Momoa
Swab: He was also seen hanging out as two fans got dabbed as they mentioned how easy the whole process was, showing them dabbing the inside of their cheek with a cotton swab
Momoa also reposted BYU Hawaii’s video of the event that was posted on Sunday, again thanking everyone for coming out to support his worthy cause.
‘Mahalo again for everyone who participated and got off at BYU! Please make a difference, save a life, join the registry link in bio! Aloha I Momoa said.
Momoa’s friend Snyder has been battling acute myeloid leukemia since 2015, and finding a matching bone marrow donor is more complicated than just matching blood types.
Thank you: Momoa also reposted BYU Hawaii’s video of the event that was posted on Sunday, again thanking everyone for coming out to support his worthy cause
Complicated: Momoa’s friend Snyder has been battling acute myeloid leukemia since 2015, and finding a matching bone marrow donor is more complicated than just matching blood types
A person’s ethnicity is a key factor, with Momoa revealing in the video that while Snyder is “the whitest guy I know”, he has Polynesian heritage, which is part of why the event of the weekend was so important.
As for young Rhyder Lopez, he and his 9-year-old brother named Raiden were born with HLH, although Raiden found a matched donor seven years ago while Rhyder is still awaiting his blood stem cell match.
Fans can visit BeTheMatch.org/ForTravis to learn more about his story.
Polynesian: A person’s ethnicity is a key factor, with Momoa revealing in the video that while Snyder is “the whitest guy I know”, he has Polynesian heritage, which is part of why the event of the weekend was so important
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