News

Airman gives boy bike, hope

  • Published
  • By Airman 1st Class Matthew Hubby
  • 436th Airlift Wing Public Affairs
DOVER AIR FORCE BASE, Del. --  When Tech. Sgt. Michael Meinhold heard that there was a boy with a rare cancer, he knew exactly what he needed to do. Working with other donor registry groups, he set up a bone marrow registry drive in the hope of finding a match for the boy, known as L.J.

While that was a big task by itself, Sergeant Meinhold didn't stop there in his efforts to help L.j.

For young L.J. was not only suffering from Erythroblastic Leukemia, which is very rare in children, but he had also had his bike stolen, one of his favorite activities before his cancer had rendered him unable to play outdoors.

Sergeant Meinhold quickly went to Facebook, posting the child's story, and between him and several others, was able to get enough money to get a new bike for L.J.

But an ordinary bike wouldn't do.

Sergeant Meinhold then got a hold of Frank Russo, 436th Force Support Squadron Community Activity Center director, to see if he could possibly get it signed by a few NASCAR drivers with the race in September coming up.

Mr. Russo quickly notified him he would be able to do so, and the bike was arranged for shipping to Richmond, Va., to be signed by both Jimmy Johnson and Denny Hamlin. Also included with the bike were the photos of the drivers who signed it.

"Kids are resilient, but having something to look forward to when they get better helps," said Sergeant Meinhold. "This is the fifth time I've run into a story like this, and I really couldn't get it done without Frank Russo. The first time I spoke with him I didn't have a clue how to get these things done."

Getting the bike to and from Richmond, Va., was no small endeavor. It had to be taken apart, packed and then shipped to the NASCAR race in Richmond. When it arrived it was reassembled so it would be ready to be signed by the drivers.

"Whatever Sergeant Meinhold asks me to do, I get it done," said Mr. Russo. "I have a lot of respect for Sergeant Meinhold, he not only works his job and takes care of his family, but he also takes the time to help out those who need his help with the bone marrow drives. You can't say no to a guy who puts that much effort into helping others."

"This entire project has been Air Force all the way," said Mr. Russo. "I would love to see Dover AFB help be a part of this great humanitarian story."

The leukemia L.J. suffers from causes his body's immune system to destroy all the cells it can find, it cannot differentiate between non-cancer cells and cancer cells, said Sergeant Meinhold.

"Stuff like this changes their whole outlook on life," said Sergeant Meinhold. "It makes living with what they are going through a little easier. L.J. is definitely in for a long fight, he's gone through chemotherapy and radiation treatments, and they caught it pretty early; however, most children who have this form of leukemia rarely make it to adulthood."

"Right now our hope is to find L.J. a matching donor and also get the word out about being a bone marrow donor to those who might have the wrong information," said Sergeant Meinhold. "There are two drives that I am working with, the Department of Defense program, and a civilian program. I highly encourage all DoD card holders to register when the next drive starts."