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Aug30, 2009 - Sept6, 2009 |
Italian teen turns to Italo-Canadian community
Small town in Sicily goes global with its appeal for bone marrow donor
By Simona Giacobbi
It only took five minutes to move the Italian-Canadian community to tears. “We have to help Mattia and all of those who need transplants,” Father Carvello told Toronto’s Sicilian community via live broadcast on Aug. 24.
“It’s part of our nature to look within ourselves and help others, because we are all one big family,” he said.
It was a heart wrenching appeal, whose words went straight to the hearts of those who were gathered at AC Ranch Café on St. Clair Avenue West. By hosting the live broadcast from Teleradiocanicatti, Step By Step, an organization that raises awareness about organ and tissue donation, helped form a bond between Toronto and the small Sicilian town of Delia.
Mattia Lombardo is 17, and she is in a race against time. This young resident of Delia suffers from chronic myeloid leukemia, and urgently needs a bone marrow transplant. It is much easier to find a donor among people with the same background, in this case, Sicilian.
And so, the search for a bone marrow donor for Lombardo is happening across Sicily and overseas.
“In the GTA, there are 4,000-5,000 people who originate from Delia. The objective of Step By Step is to register 20-30% of these before then end of the week,” said George Marcello, the founder of Step By Step.
Marcello emphasized how easy it is to register as a potential bone marrow donor on the OneMatch database on the Canadian Blood Services website. He held up an example of the kit that is mailed to each would-be donor who registers. It contains a form to fill out and two swabs with which to take cell samples from inside the mouth. The DNA is then analyzed in a lab.
“If the result is positive, then your name is immediately added to the donor registry,” Marcello explained.
“Anyone can become a donor,” he added. “The doctors in Italy will keep an eye on the registry of Italian-Canadians.”
A group of Italian-Canadians listened, ready to test their generosity and save a human life.
“Everyone was struck by Padre Carvello’s energetic, moving and emotional appeal,” Marcello said.
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