Blood Drive To Be Held In Honor Of Northport Man Fighting Cancer

STONY BROOK, NY — A blood drive, honoring a Northport man fighting cancer for the third time, is scheduled for 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. April 16 at Stony Brook University.

Aidan Fischer, 23, is fighting leukemia for a third time after he relapsed again this winter.

The blood drive will be held at the Student Activities Center's Ballroom A. To make an appointment, people may scan the QR code on the flyer below.

Fischer's mother, Jenine Saccente, thanked Melanie Formosa, a childhood friend of Aidan's, for mobilizing the blood drive. Formosa is a 2023 Stony Brook University graduate. The drive is being organized by Kate Valerio, an advisor and volunteer with the Stony Brook University Blood Drive Committee.

Saccente said she hopes the blood drive will raise awareness of platelet and granulocyte donations. Granulocytes are a type of white blood cell.

"Over the past three-and-a-half years, Aidan has needed countless units of whole blood and platelets, and now he has this need for the granulocytes, which are the VIPs of the blood world in terms of scarcity and need," Saccente told Patch.

Aidan‘s father, Christopher Fischer, a trauma education coordinator at Stony Brook, said he would like to thank all of those involved “for their generosity and support of this very meaningful cause.”

The drive will be dedicated to Fischer and the 35,000 Seawolves who have donated over the past 20 years in collaboration with the New York Blood Center. Each pint of blood could potentially save three lives.