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Teen Battling Aplastic Anemia Give Back to Community
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Teen Battling Aplastic Anemia Give Back to Community
iReport — 17-year-old Kenny Conidaris grew up along the sands of the Lani Kai Beach Resort in Fort Myers. He loves the sun and the surf and can often be seen jet skiing in the emerald green waters of the Gulf of Mexico.Kenny cherishes every moment of sunshine because his life used to be filled with countless doctors visits, lengthy hospital stays and numerous blood transfusions.Kenny suffers from aplastic anemia. It’s a rare condition in which the body doesn’t produce enough red blood cells. He was diagnosed at the age of 12.Kenny relied on a horse serum as well as blood and platelets to sustain life.When I caught up with Kenny and his family on the beach behind the resort he told me that he remembers being exhausted and suffered unexplained bruising before being diagnosed with the disease.His mother Kathy Conidaris says, ““I was horrified. I didn’t know if he was going to live or die. I was scared. I was confused. I was upset. I was angry.”Kenny is currently in remission. However, his only shot at a cure is a bone marrow transplant, but to this day; doctors have not been able to find a matching donor.That’s why his family teams up with Florida’s Blood Centers to host a blood and bone marrow drive every year at the Lani Kai Resort.Kathy says, “It’s Kenny’s way of giving back. He wants to give back to the community and so does my family because if it wasn’t for everybody that does donate and everything then we wouldn’t be here today saying this. Kenny wouldn’t be here in his great remission that he is. We do want to give back to the community to help other people and help other people stay alive, just like the community did for us at one point.”Thanks to donors in the Fort Myers community Kenny recently graduated high school and looks forward to attending college and studying to be an EMT.Though his life seems right on track, Kenny and his family fear a relapse may occur and they hope to have a bone marrow match in their back pocket, just in case he needs ...
Video Length: 0
Date Found: July 11, 2011
Date Produced:
View Count: 2
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