(above) Westfield Chapter of UNICO President, Richard Esposito; Kara Shields; Will DeGregorio; and Robert Tarte
Greater Westfield Chapter of UNICO Donate to Will DeGregorio
Submitted by Vince Tomasso
The Greater Westfield Chapter of UNICO National invited Cranford resident Will DeGregorio and his mother Kara Shields to their June meeting. In April, Westfield UNICO hosted a flapjack breakfast fundraiser at Clark Applebee’s to help cover some of the medical expenses associated with Will’s cancer diagnosis. In 2012, a 3 year old Will was diagnosed with Adrenal Cancer and survived, only to learn in 2018 of a new tumor on his pelvis called Osteosarcoma. He recently endured intensive chemotherapy before and after his major surgery, where the team resected a large portion of his hip bone.
After testing it was discovered that Will has Li-Fraumeni Syndrome. This syndrome is a rare hereditary disorder that predisposes carriers to cancer development. This means Will is susceptible to tumor growth, which is why every year for the rest of his life he will endure a full body scan.
Happily Will returned into his 4th grade classroom and is an avid sports enthusiast. He likes to play basketball and baseball and his favorite teams are the New York Yankees, Giants and Rangers.
UNICO National is the largest Italian American service organization in the United States.If you would like more information about UNICO contact Richard Esposito at 908-578-0746, email respos6979@verizon.net or Sandra Giordano at 908-403-8639, email sgiordano22@comcast.net. You can also acess our National website at www.unico.org.
