By Rick Winterson

     Join us this Sunday. June 10, from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. in the Teamsters facility at 348 D Street for a bone marrow registration drive.  It’s for young Giovanni Guglielmo.  Read on, and log onto www.savegiovanni.org 

     You perhaps have heard the name of Giovanni Guglielmo.  Recently, he has been in the newspapers a lot.  Like most of us, he has a mixed heritage – Irish, Italian, and Greek.  Perhaps the Greek blood entitles his journey to be called an “Odyssey”, which it certainly is.

     Just consider.  Last Monday, young Giovanni was named an “Outstanding Italian-American”, because so many thousands had turned out in his name to become registered as a potential bone marrow donor.  He’s now known everywhere.  In fact, Giovanni was responsible for the first ever bone marrow registration drive in Italy.  He has received tributes from many famous folks, from Pope Benedict to Kevin Youkilis.

     Since the first of this year, Giovanni’s mother and father, Christina Poulicakos and Michael Guglielmo, have sponsored 71 bone marrow drives in Giovanni’s name, resulting in 8,500 new names in the bone marrow registry.  It is the largest patient-driven bone marrow drive in history.  They have been victimized and stolen from in the process.

     You see, Giovanni suffers from an extremely rare immune system disorder, which is known by its abbreviation – “NEMO”.  He is one of only 11 cases known in the U.S. and 69 cases known worldwide.  Four times during the last ten months, Giovanni faced death, but struggled back from the brink.  He’s tough.  Very tough. 

     When he finally came home three weeks ago, Christina dressed him in a tiny Superman costume, as a tribute to his strength.  Perhaps you saw the pictures and articles about Giovanni in various media during May.  Perhaps you even remember the early days of the comic strip “Superman”, when he came to Smallville as an infant in a spaceship from the distant planet Krypton.

     And in case you didn’t know, Giovanni Guglielmo is just a baby.  He’s only ten months old – not even a toddler.  In less than a year, he has already endured more than most of us encounter in an entire lifetime.  During most of his brief existence, young Giovanni has been a much-loved patient at Children’s Hospital.  But he’s home and he weighs 11 pounds now, five more than when he was born.

     Here’s how he was saved.  When NEMO was identified as the disease that afflicted Giovanni, Michael and Christina immediately began a worldwide bone marrow search.  There are some 11 million individuals in the bone marrow registry, but a match could not be found, so Michael and Christina began their own marrow registry drives.  Treatment of NEMO with stem cell-containing umbilical cord blood is also possible, and luckily, a good match was found.  The stem cell transplant took place on March 21; Giovanni came home three weeks later.  He may require further treatment with bone marrow, so the search isn’t over, but the news right now is quite optimistic.

     Giovanni’s parents are determined to continue their bone marrow registration drives.  Why?  Because they want to “give back” for all the care and concern Giovanni has received.  They are New Hampshire residents, and according to Michael Guglielmo, “Massachusetts opened its arms to us.  We want 20,000 new registrants in return.  This will be Giovanni’s legacy to everyone.”

     You can help out on this coming Sunday, June 10, between 10 a.m. and 3 p.m..  The Teamsters at the John Perry Local 82 are sponsoring a South Boston bone marrow registration drive in their facility at 348 D Street – come one, come all.  It will take less than ten minutes, with a simple cotton swab process (no needles).  And it’s free!  If your insurance doesn’t cover it, funds are available to defray the cost.

     Do you need more information?  If so, then log onto www.savegiovanni.org  Young Giovanni and his “Super Gio” Odyssey are known all over the world.  His fight for life is truly an inspiring story.