On the road with Patrick

Patrick Pedraja (see my post dated 3/10/07 - "Driving For Donors" or go to the the link www.drivingfordonors.com) has begun his cross country journey. On Saturday, May 5, there was a front page story in El Nuevo Herald (the Spanish edition of The Miami Herald) and Monday, May 7, he was the cover/main story in the Tropic Life section of The Miami Herald. He was also featured on local radio and television news programs.

Patrick's mom, Claudina, is starting the cross country trip with him and his dad,Willie, will be joining in June. They have just begun and have already met half their goal of obtaining 2,007 people to register with the bone marrow registry. Because of this success, they have increased their goal.

They have set up at different sites so he can receive his treatments during the trip. He is in remission right now.

To my friends in Boston, Atlanta, Tampa, Orlando, Philadelphia, Cleveland, New York, Washington D.C., Denver, San Antonio and New Orleans: They are going to be coming your way and have the support of local police associations (Wille is a Metro-Dade police officer, a friend and neighbor). Please do what you can in welcoming, assisting and getting the word out and support for their cause. Thanks!

To follow their trip and find out when they will be in your area, donate, become an "Ambassador" or assist go to:

http://www.drivingfordonors.com/

Driving For Donors - Patrick

Patrick is the son of my next door neighbor, Willy. I have known Willy for, at least, 30 years. They were the third Hispanic family to move into the predominantly Anglo neighborhood when we were young. Willy is a police officer and a really good guy. I often help his mom out. It is like having another mom next door.

Patrick is 11 years old. He was diagnosed with Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia in March 2006. This diagnosis came after a long, painful year of suffering from what, then, was thought Juvenile Rheumatoid Arthritis. The pain and swelling in his joints got so bad that he was in a wheelchair for 5 months because he was unable to walk a single step. When the pain got worse and he had a fever that wouldn't go away the doctors put him in the hospital where they found out that he really has Leukemia. He is undergoing chemotherapy treatments at St. Josephs Children's Hospital in Tampa, Florida. He is almost done with the first year of intense chemo (he goes 3 times a week for treatments!) Then, he will have 2 1/2 more years of maintenance chemotherapy.

After having a friend die because they were not able to find a bone marrow match, Patrick came up with the idea for a bone marrow drive (with a focus on recruiting minority donors). DRIVING FOR DONORS is a nationwide event where Patrick and his family will travel across the country in a special "Donormobile" (The vehicle has already been donated) . They will work with The National Marrow Donor Program, The Marrow Foundation, law enforcement departments, local donor centers and businesses and the media to host successful donor drives in over 30 major cities! The goal is to add 2007 new donors to the National Marrow Registry in 2007 and in order to do that they must raise over $100,000 for Tissue Typing fees alone! DRIVING FOR DONORS will be the first National Law Enforcement Donor Drive!

DRIVING FOR DONORS will begin on May 5th, 2007 and continue for 3 months. They will hold donor drives in major cities such as Miami, Orlando, Atlanta, Dallas, Washington D.C, New York, Philadelphia, St. Louis, Denver, Seattle, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Phoenix and more!
They really need your help!

If you would like to support DRIVING FOR DONORS , to host a DRIVING FOR DONORS event in your community or want more infomation go to:

www.drivingfordonors.com

You can also contact them directly at: info@drivingfordonors.com