Calling All Italians, Calling All North End Lifesavers

Dr Elena Levantini of Harvard Medical School, a native Italian and Godmother to Baby Giovanni who recently lost his blood disease battle, received a letter from the parents of 8-year-old Andréa Scalas of Sardinia, Italy, requesting help to find an Italian bone marrow donor to save their child. The letter was sent to Dr. Levantini through an Italian website she constructed with friends to honor Giovanni in Italy.

Giovanni’s father Michael Guglielmo received a similar request through Facebook from the mother of an 18-year-old Italian girl, Cristina Di Corte, from Canada seeking help to find an Italian match to save her daughter. Dr Levantini asked DKMS Americas, the largest bone marrow donor center in the world, for assistance and they said yes to holding the first ever international bone marrow drive for Italian patients from two countries.

Rosetta Romagnoli, the president of Federazione Associazioni Abruzzesi/USA, with Domenico Susi, of GIZIO ASSOCIATION, Rocco Di Renzo, President of Paesani d’Italia, and Canadian national Travis Talbot director of Project Goodwill are assisting with this international drive in hopes of saving the lives of both Andrea, Cristina, and others.

We need you! Every day thousands of patients search the international registry in hope for a bone marrow donor match. “I lost my mother to leukemia when I was 14,” stated Katharina Harf, Co-founder, DKMS Americas, “and I have made it my mission to recruit more donors so that other families don’t have to go through the pain we did.”  “We need your help so we can save more lives.”

The first international drive takes place on Thursday, November 15, from 7:00 p.m. to 10:00 p.m. at Associazione Gizio, 226 North Street.