Toyota of Scranton Blood Drive<\/p>\n
On Giving Tuesday, Dec. 2, Toyota of Scranton will host a blood drive in honor of two people close to employees of the business.<\/p>\n
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John Santiago and his two daughters.<\/p>\n
John Santiago, a body shop mechanic, said his daughter Adalee was diagnosed with Leukemia at nine years old. Now in her second year of treatment, she is in a maintenance phase.<\/p>\n
\u201cAs a parent, it\u2019s tough. Sometimes you have to swallow that pain and not cry in front of your kids,\u201d he said. \u201cI just want her to live a normal life. So I come to work like nothing\u2019s happening, I try to forget about everything.\u201d<\/p>\n
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John and Mary Nesbitt were married for 23 years.<\/p>\n
Only a few months after Adalee\u2019s diagnosis, Santiago\u2019s coworker John Nesbitt learned that his wife Mary had the same illness.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt happened quick,\u201d Nesbitt said. \u201cShe was doing very well, she had a bone marrow transplant, which required more blood, and everything just went downhill.\u201d<\/p>\n
Mary Nesbitt died in October of this year. <\/p>\n
\u201cIt was just crazy how my daughter got diagnosed first and then\u2026 a couple months later we found out [John\u2019s] wife had it,\u201d Santiago said. \u201cIt felt kind of like a virus spreading. It was weird. And it made me sad because I know the pain of someone you love going through something that you can\u2019t control.\u201d<\/p>\n
The colleagues learned to rely on their work family. Nesbitt said he felt supported even when he was with his wife receiving treatment in New York.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe were there for five weeks, and somebody from here called me every day,\u201d he said. \u201cJust to say, \u2018Are you doing okay?\u2019 \u2018Do you need anything?\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n
The dealership is now asking the community for support to provide a blood supply that will help people like Adalee and Mary in this region.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re ecstatic about it. It\u2019s good to see people come together in tough times,\u201d Santiago said. \u201cI know we\u2019re not the only family suffering through this.\u201d<\/p>\n
Miller-Keystone Blood Drives <\/p>\n