St. Francis Hosts Blood Drive for Children's Hospital

They may have lost the big game, but is working to help their 4-year-old Doryan Torres Carrillo win his battle against cancer.

Coach Jim Bonds and the St. Francis High School football team, in partnership with Children's Hospital Los Angeles, was honored to have Torres serve as the honorary team captain for the school's , said Andy Burghdorf, the school's public relations representative.

On Thursday, St. Francis will host a blood drive for Children's Hospital, where doctors are treating Torres, diagnosed at 14 months old with a rare childhood brain cancer.

"The administrators, faculty members, students, and athletes at St. Francis recognize and admire Doryan's tenacity and determination in his fight against cancer and, as a community, we want him, his family, and Children's Hospital Los Angeles to know that we support them and their fight against this disease,'' Burghdorf wrote in a prepared statement.

Carrillo was diagnosed in 2008 with a tumor-type of cancer called ATRT. This past July, Carrillo's family received news that two new spots had shown up in his spine. Since then, the staff members at Children’s Hospital Los Angeles and Kaiser have tried to figure out what is happening.

At this point, nobody has an answer.

Despite the uncertainty and constant struggle, the 4-year-old continues to fight for his life. His fight against cancer has brought his family and the community together to form TEAM DORYAN to help combat the disease.

According to the facebook page for Team Doryan, "The staff at CHLA deserves much thanks for bringing our little guy this far, and Doryans new extended family at Kaiser, not to mention all the prayers and continued support from everyone. His fight against cancer has brought us all together forming TEAM DORYAN!''

TEAM DORYAN Facebook Site:

http://www.facebook.com/teamdoryan?sk=info#!/teamdoryan?sk=wall

The blood drive is Thursday from 7:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. in the SF gym. Students who are 16 and 17 years old need a signed parent permission slip. Slips are provided in the Activities Office. Parent drop-ins are welcome. For information please contact Mrs. Gunter at dgunter@sfhs.net