New Jersey Blood Services (NJBS) is hosting a blood drive on Thursday, June 16 from 12:30 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. at the Senior Center on West 4th Street in Bayonne. The drive is in loving memory of Michael Romano, a young boy who died of Neuroblastoma, a pediatric cancer.
Remembering Michael
Romano was diagnosed with Neuroblastoma at the age of four. He underwent chemotherapy, surgery, radiation, stem cell transplant and several experimental therapies, receiving hundreds of blood transfusions over the course of his seven-year treatment.
Romano was a student at Midtown Community School who loved baseball, playing for the Bayonne Cal Ripken Baseball League, and fishing. He was an involved and beloved member of his community even as a young boy. The Bayonne community rallied around him, collecting donations while he was in treatment and hospitalized.
Sadly, Romano passed away at the age of 11 on Oct. 21, 2005. He would have turned 28 years old this year on June 8, 2022. In celebration of Romano’s life, his family would like the community to consider donating blood, as a way to both keep his memory alive and ensure there are life-saving blood donations for others who may need it.
NJBS is taking extra precautions to help prevent the person-to-person spread of COVID-19. As always, people are not eligible to donate if they’re experiencing a cold, sore throat, respiratory infection or flu-like symptoms. Additional information on donor eligibility and COVID-19 precautions is available at nybc.org/donate-blood/covid-19-and-blood-donation-copy.
Blood drive at Senior Center
The blood drive will take place on Thursday, June 16, from 12:30 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. The location will be the Senior Center at 16 West 4th Street in Bayonne.
According to NJBS, it only takes one hour to donate, and a single donation can save multiple lives. Roughly one in seven hospital admissions require a blood transfusion.
Those in need include: cancer patients, accident, burn, or trauma victims, newborn babies and their mothers, transplant recipients, surgery patients, chronically transfused patients suffering from sickle cell disease or thalassemia, and many more.
To make an appointment at this blood drive, donors can call 1-800-933-2566 or go online to: donate.nybc.org/donor/schedules/drive_schedule/295109.
For updates on this and other stories, check www.hudsonreporter.com and follow us on Twitter @hudson_reporter. Daniel Israel can be reached at disrael@hudsonreporter.com.
