(The following story by Mark Ginocchio appeared on the Stamford Advocate website on March 6.)
STAMFORD — When one of Metro-North’s locomotive engineers was told he needed a bone marrow transplant to survive, his fellow employees responded immediately.
John D’Amore, an engineer for Metro-North Railroad for more than 30 years, was diagnosed with leukemia late last year. After failing to find a DNA match from his immediate family, D’Amores’ friends at the railroad arranged for a number of drives to take place this past week, including one yesterday at Tepnel Lifecodes Corp. on West Avenue in Stamford.
The drives were designed to screen for potential donors. After filling out a questionnaire, a small sample of blood was taken — also known as a phlebotomy — and sent immediately for testing. Results would be found in about a month.
“He’s family and he’s facing terrible odds,” said Joe Lindenberg, a co-worker of D’Amore’s. “Like the railroad, things slow us down, but nothing will ever stop us.”
Lindenberg has been friends with D’Amore’s wife, Debbie, and his two sons, John and Mike, who also work for the railroad, for the past eight years. He has been a major force behind the drive, recruiting other employees to donate and keeping D’Amore’s wife posted on any developments.
“He’s really a gentle giant,” Lindenberg said of D’Amore, a Howard Beach, N.Y., resident who is a weightlifter on the side, and a Vietnam War veteran. “He’s so big, but the commuters love him. That’s why some of them came out to donate as well.”
Drives were held in the conductors’ lounge at Grand Central Terminal earlier this week, but there also was a need for one to be held in Stamford.
“We are unique in this industry because we get our results in half the time compared to other labs,” said Patricia Pietrzak, manager of customer service for Tepnel.
Because Tepnel has both their marrow donor services program and a laboratory in the same building, results can be received in three to four weeks, compared to six to eight weeks in most other facilities.
Tepnel has organized a number of bone marrow drives in Stamford, but never one at their offices. They are within walking distance from the Stamford train station.
Donors were asked to pay a $59.95 fee for registry testing, or had the option to undergo a private test just for D’Amore’s benefit for a higher cost.
According to the National Marrow Donor Program Web site, approximately 80 percent of all patients identify at least one potential match on their preliminary search. However, not all patients who identify an identical donor at the preliminary search will go on to the transplant stage.
For a successful transplant, the DNA must be compatible. Parents are often ruled out as donors because they pass on a DNA combination to their child, and siblings are only successful 30 percent of the time. That means 70 percent of all matches come from strangers.
With five donors showing up at Tepnel yesterday, coupled with the 200 who showed up at Grand Central earlier, hope was alive for D’Amore and his friends.
“There’s a match for everyone,” said Dr. Michael Andrews, a phlebotomist on hand yesterday who serves as director for Link to Life Network in Richmond Hill, N.Y. “Everyone is so mixed and there are over 5 million people in the registry.”
Adding herself to that registry yesterday was Susannah Kehl, a research assistant for Tepnel. After volunteering at a camp for children with cancer last summer, Kehl saw the drive as an excellent opportunity to help the cause.
“I don’t know John personally but I wanted to get my name into the registry so I could help him or anyone else who may need it,” Kehl said.
“We’re just trying to catch lighting in a bottle for John,” Lindenberg said. “I feel confident that the more people enter the registry, the more people they can help like John.”
— For more information on bone marrow transplants, visit www.marrow.org or www.bonemarrowtest.com.