Bone Marrow Drive February 3

BRIDGEPORT — St Vincent’s Swim Across the Sound will hold a bone marrow matching drive for Trumbull resident Lou Malatesta on Thursday, February 3, 3:30 to 7:30 pm at Madison Middle School (in the cafeteria), 4630 Madison Avenue in Trumbull.

The drive will be co-sponsored by the New England Marrow Donor Program headquartered in Farmington, Connecticut (Phone 800/676-4545).

Mr Malatesta, 42, a program supervisor with the Discovery Channel and Learning Channel in Stamford, is from a well known area family. His father, Donny, was a Trumbull police officer and local pilot who died in the plane crash that also took the life of the late industrialist Francis D’Addario in 1986. Mr Malatesta’s brother, Donny, Jr, also a pilot, was killed in an accident while flying in a training maneuver for the US Air National Guard.

Diagnosed with multiple myeloma in 1996, Lou Malatesta has since undergone two stem cell transplants, now out of remission.

Potential bone marrow donors must be between the ages of 18 and 60, in good health and within the weight guidelines recommended by the National Marrow Donor Program.

After registering, participants will simply donate blood and agree to have their names placed on the National Registry in hopes of matching with a person in need. The entire process takes 15 minutes.