It Takes a Borough and Lots of Good Neighbors

It began as a headache. It ended only a matter of hours later with a teen-aged girl in the operating room having her skull opened for emergency brain surgery to relieve the pressure caused by a bleed in her brain. This is the story of Anny Lee, a young woman who is a senior at Leonia High School. A healthy 18 year old one minute, in the next diagnosed with an extremely rare form of Leukemia (APML) and now in a medically induced coma for the next three weeks. Like so many families in our area, Anny’s family does not have full health insurance coverage. Also, because of the nature of Anny’s diagnosis, the family has been instructed that they have to move to a new apartment and replace all of their furniture in order to reduce the chance of infection.

The amazing students of Leonia High School have banded together to rally for Anny. They are in the process of developing a number of fundraisers to assist Anny and her family in this, their time of need. To start, they are taking pre-orders for tee-shirts and wristbands with the logo “Team Anny.” The tee-shirts are $20.00 and the wristbands are $5.00.  Anny and her family can use the support of everyone who reads this story. If you are interested in supporting “Team Anny” by purchasing tee-shirts and/or wristbands, or just donating money, checks can be made out to “Leonia High School—Anny Lee Account” and can be mailed directly to:

Mr. Ed Bertolini, Principal

Leonia High School

100 Christie Heights Street

Leonia, NJ 07605

I met with Anny’s friend today and listened as she spoke of Anny’s vitality, good humor, her spark, her love of life. I spoke with her boss who was devastated by the news that one of her summer lifeguards was so unexpectedly stricken in such a horrible way. I spoke to mothers who know her; mothers who wore the look of devastation on their faces, fully aware that what happened to Anny could easily happen to their children. One mother remarked through her sadness, “I will never think that a headache is just a headache anymore.” And so it is. In a matter of hours, without preparation or warning, our lives can be dramatically and forever altered.

Imagine if this was your child, grandchild, brother, sister, or friend. You would want everything that could possibly save their life to be done. You would want everyone to take an active interest in saving the life of someone you love. We can’t go through this life alone. We need the help and support of our family, our friends, and most especially our neighbors. After all, what is a community if not a band of people who in times of strife come together without prejudice or malice to make the lives of those who need our help better?

Anny’s story has created ripple effects of goodness throughout the small borough of Leonia, and already so many people have come forth to help raise money for Anny and her family. This ripple effect has made its way to Fort Lee where people who have heard Anny’s story have generously donated to her cause. About Town would love to see this ripple effect extend to even more people, more communities.

About Town has to get personal and say that I truly believe in the essential goodness of people. I truly believe that beneath the rancor of rhetoric that seems to overpopulate the world today, there lives a spirit of selfless giving in the hearts of people who live in Bergen County. It’s that spirit, that selflessness that is needed now to help this girl and her family through this most difficult time. These are the causes that should be front-page news because Anny’s story is one among many heartbreaking stories that goes under-reported every second of every day.

If it takes a village to raise a child, can the boroughs of Bergen County band together to help save a child? It takes good neighbors like all of you, who can put aside our collective differences and come together to help those among us who are truly in need. Especially when it’s one of our children.