It all started with a list. Twenty-year-old Chris Betancourt is fighting Chronic Myelogenous Leukemia and was in desperate need of a bone marrow transplant to potentially save his life. While he and his best friend Dillon Hill started raising awareness around the importance of bone marrow donations, Dillon also suggested to Chris he write a life bucket list, since his days may be numbered.
Chris went to work, writing things on his list like “lift weight with The Rock” an “be in the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade.” Amidst those items was another that caught Tempur-Pedic’s eye: “get a new bed.”
You might also like this Tempur-Pedic mattress review.
As soon as Tempur-Pedic saw this, their team immediately took action. Tempur-Pedic explains when you’re sick, your bed is the place you go for recovery and rest. So their team flew Chris’ two best friends — Dillon and Clay —to one of their manufacturing plants in Albuquerque NM to pick out a new bed for their friend and surprise him with it.
Philanthropic and social good actions aren’t new for this bed brand; Tempur-Pedic has donated more than 20,000 beds every year for the past several years. In 2017, the 100,000th bed was donated.
Also read about Leesa’s plans to donate 30,000 beds.
The giving-back didn’t end there. Tempur-Pedic also supported another bucket list item of Chris’s: “Break the World Record for Most Bone Marrow Donation Sign Ups in One Day.” To help make this a reality, Tempur-Pedic created a mattress giveaway to incentivize people to sign up as bone marrow donors. It worked: The record was broken with 3,715 sign-ups.
Today is the day. Let's break a world record: https://t.co/Tg1ejXTxj0
RT for a chance to win a @TempurPedic bed!
#lemonsforleukemia #FOURtniteWorldRecord pic.twitter.com/gOtytt9QaI
— One List One Life (@onelistonelife) March 1, 2018
Now, recent good news suggests Tempur-Pedic indeed played a small yet significant role in Chris’s life. Chris recently found a bone marrow match and will be able to receive surgery that could save his life. Tempur Sealy International Senior Manager, Public Relations and Corporate Communications, Rick Maynard commented:
“We were thrilled to be able to contribute to Chris’ journey of finding a bone marrow match and helping others along the way.”
I am personally excited to see more bedding brands — and companies in general — play a larger role in the social good sector. From Leesa beds that give back to Olive Wren donating a portion of sales to victims of abuse, we’ll hopefully see more and more names in the bed industry stepping up to create impact outside the bedroom.
Featured image: @onelistonelife on Instagram