Drive renewed to find marrow match

The Southwest Florida community is getting together for the third year in a row for the Kenny Conidaris Drive at the Lani Kai Island Resort on Fort Myers Beach.

Conidaris is a 14-year-old who was diagnosed two years ago with Severe Aplastic Anemia, a rare blood disease of the bone marrow.

The drive, scheduled for July 19, is being organized by his family members, who hope to find a bone marrow match for Kenny or other young children like him.

“It took many (blood) transfusions to keep him going. Because we needed so much, we wanted to try to help build up the bank again,” said Ken Conidaris, Kenny’s father, about the condition that his son survived thanks to blood from the bone marrow national bank. “If it’s for Kenny or somebody else, we are trying to do the right thing.”

And doing the right thing means organizing an event featuring live entertainment, free food and refreshments along with free transportation. Every donor receives a free T-shirt and a $10 gift card for gas or Publix.

“A drive like this puts a face to what people can do to help kids like Kenny,” said Lawrence Ganns, the spokesperson for Florida’s Blood Centers. The center is helping Conidaris organize the event.

The family has been at the forefront of doing the blood drive because the disease is so rare and the only cure is a bone marrow transplant, said Ken Conidaris.

“His numbers are going back down again but we hope he isn’t out of remission,” said Ken Conidaris in a phone interview from Duke University Hospital in North Carolina.

Kenny was getting tested again for the disease but the focus for the family remains on the drive and addressing the blood shortage.

“A shortage is a continual thing but it helps that these drives let people know where it’s going,” Ganns said.