More than 1,000 at bone-marrow drive for 8-year-old

A drive to find a bone marrow match for a Farmingdale boy with leukemia drew more than 1,000 potential donors to a local school Sunday.

Debbie Amato, whose son Jake, 8, has battled the disease since 2006, said the family hoped to connect with a compatible donor so Jake can heal and "be a kid again." That means playing baseball, going to movies, and attending school with other children, she said.

"Here we are on the day and it's unbelievable, the work these guys have done for us," Amato said, referring to the battery of volunteers. "It's been an amazing turnout. It's really heartwarming."

Amato, 46, said her son's "best chance of survival and the leukemia not coming back is a bone-marrow transplant. "That's our hope for today - we're hoping to find a match for Jake."

For Jake, who was in remission from January to June, the return of the disease would mean more chemotherapy, a regimen that took its toll after years of daily treatment, his mother said.

"We went through three-and-a-half years of chemotherapy, giving this kid medicines every single day of his life," she said. "The longer we wait for a donor, the longer we have to give medicines to this kid.

"I could not sit around and wonder when this was going to happen."

When his doctor suggested the family organize their own drive, they reached out to friends and community members. Within a week, they held their first meeting, and 25 people showed up.

Less than a month later, the event was under way Sunday at Weldon E. Howitt Middle School, where lines of would-be donors offered to provide samples.

DKMS, the marrow donor center that ran the event, took samples with swabs from the inside of participants' cheeks. DKMS will test the swabs and enter them in a registry to check for matches with other sick children. The process takes about six weeks and costs $65 per test, Amato said.

Beyond seeking a match for Jake, Amato said, she wants to help other children who are waiting for bone marrow transplants.

"If we can help one kid . . . that's what matters," she said.