Timothy Holman walked into the PM Lounge on Main Street in Ansonia Monday night looking like a man on a mission.
He walked in four minutes later than scheduled, weighed down by 500 fliers he was carrying, along with a gaggle of red wrist bands, pamphlets and registration forms.
His plea to the 20 friends gathered at tables six feet from the bar — help save my grandson’s life.
Holman, a veteran Ansonia Public Works employee, is known as “pop pop” to 10-year-old Anthony Mabery of Greenville, N.C.
For most of his short life, Anthony has been battling acute lymphoblastic leukemia. The cancer had gone into remission, but it’s back with a vengeance, coursing through his bone marrow and bloodstream.
Anthony needs a bone marrow transplant.
His pop pop in Ansonia is organizing a bone marrow registration drive scheduled for Saturday, Dec. 28, 2013 from 1 to 4 p.m. at Hilltop Hose Co. No. 5, 80 Pulaski Highway.
The people who show up Dec. 28 will be asked to register as bone marrow donors. If they meet requirements — between ages 18 and 55, in good general health, weigh at least 110 pounds, have a maximum body mass index of 40 — they’ll be asked to fill out a form and consent to having the inside of their cheeks swabbed to see if their cells can be used to help someone in need.
It’s the first steps on the path to donating bone marrow.
Holman said he wants to get as many people as possible to show up Dec. 28. It’s not just about his grandson — there are thousands of people in the same predicament.
Holman asked the 20 members of “Team Anthony” gathered at the PM Lounge Monday them to spread the word about the Dec. 28 registration drive.
“We need people to come out and get registered. It takes two minutes. Time is of the essence for Anthony,” Holman said. “He’s at the stage where we have to find a donor. I’m not saying we’ll find one here, but I have to try somewhere. Even if it doesn’t help him, it may help someone else.”
Holman said his grandson has shown maturity beyond his years as a result of his medical problems. He’s an expert on issues such as chemotherapy and cancer — things no child should know. At the same time, Holman said the boy’s faith in God is incredibly strong.
But he’s a normal kid, with a great love for WWE superstar wrestler John Cena, who sent him an autographed shirt.
“Pop pop, John Cena knows me?” Holman said of his grandson’s reaction.
Anthony’s struggle has been chronicled on local television in North Carolina. Take a moment to meet Anthony by watching the video below. The TV news story points out that it is especially important for people of Hispanic and African-American descent to register, because they are under-represented on bone marrow donor lists.
The Dec. 28 bone marrow donor registration drive is sponsored by Ansonia’s Positive Men’s Organization, Hilltop Hose, DeleteBloodCancer.org and the Sister Girl Fund of Bridgeport.