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So when the organization called him that August to tell him that he was, in fact, a match, he was shocked — but eager to do anything he could to help.
A month later, the 25-year-old financial adviser from Old Lyme was on a train to New York City, preparing to donate stem cells.
Things came full circle for Feigenbaum on Tuesday, Dec. 13, 2022, when he met 24-year-old Erica Meyer — the woman whose life he helped save — at a Gift of Life gala in Miami.
"It was pretty surreal," said Feigenbaum, a West Hartford native. "Five days later I'm still on a high, knowing she's doing great and I was able to help her heal and fight. She did all the hard work, but it feels amazing I was able to contribute to her journey."
Feigenbaum was sitting at the dinner table with his family when he discovered his three siblings and parents had all signed up to get cheek swabs for Gift of Life. It was something he wanted to do, too.
"It wasn't something I was going to say I was going to do, I really wanted to do it," he said. "Words are pointless, it's all about the action."
Two days later, Feigenbaum ordered the kit. And eight months after that, he got the call and found out he could be a match.
After getting a second swab done, he was confirmed as a match for Meyer, a Florida resident who needed the donation to treat chronic myeloid leukemia, something she'd been battling since she was a teen.
While Feigenbaum said Gift of Like makes the donation process “seamless,” it wasn’t all smooth sailing for him.
When he was scheduled to travel to New York City in September 2021 to take a physical examination ahead of the donation, strong storms rolled through the region, causing a flash flood emergency across the city.
He said it felt like fate when his train was the only one that made it into Penn Station that night.
“I just remember sitting on the train and instead of freaking out, I was like, ‘You know what? I’ll get there. I’ll figure it out,’" he said. "I didn’t really know how I was going to figure it out, but I got there."
The following month, he made his donation. Feigenbaum said it was a similar process to giving blood, it just required sitting in the chair for hours longer.
Meyer's health improved greatly in the months after receiving the donation, and after about five months, she felt well enough to begin looking for jobs again and going back out into the world.
Feigenbaum said the experience of meeting Meyer was unbelievable, and he felt both overjoyed and overwhelmed throughout the night.
“I just felt so excited that everything went as well as it could and that I was able to help,” he said. “It’s an incredibly gratifying experience. I just feel really lucky to be able to help.”
Meyer is also grateful to have had the chance to meet the man who gave her a life-saving gift.
“It was a blessing because for me and my parents, meeting the person who was able to give me my life back has meant the world to all of us," Meyer said.
Meyer and Feigenbaum both encouraged others to find organizations like Gift Of Life to see if they could be someone's match.
"You're giving someone their life back," Meyer said. "You're giving their family the opportunity to watch them recover and watch them improve."
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