'Continuing To be Brave'

Santino Anastasia

Our Lady of the Magnificat parishioners lift spirits of family

KINNELON   If you look at a picture of 8-year-old Santino Anastasia, you’ll notice the smile on his face long before the fact that he is battling leukemia. In the fight of his life, Santino continues to be brave — through the treatments and setbacks — inspiring his family and the parishioners at Our Lady of Magnficat here, where he and his family worship.

“He is a beautiful little boy,” said Arthur Anastasia, Santino’s father, “It has been a scary journey for him and our family but I know without our faith it would have been impossible to get through this.”

This month marks a year since Santino, a student at Stonybrook Elementary School here, was diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukemia. He has been undergoing chemo­therapy on and off since that time. Shortly after Santino’s diagnosis, the family faced another life-changing setback, when a fire destroyed the Anastasia family’s home. The family lost everything they had in the fire, except for the clothes on their backs. They are currently living in a rented home here.

Michelle Anastasia, Santino’s mother, stays at the hospital with Santino while Arthur Anastasia continues to work full-time running the family business, Dairy­land Ice Cream in Irvington, as well as taking care of Santino’s younger brother and teenage sister.

Because of the financial stress on the family, John and Mary Ramsden, fellow parishioners at OLM, started an online fund-raising campaign to provide financial assistance to the family through gofundme.com. For the Ramsdens, this cause hits close to home. Five years ago on Feb. 22, they lost their 12-year-old daughter, Nicole, to a different form of leukemia — acute myeloid leukemia.

John Ramsden, who is a cancer survivor himself, said, “We felt compelled to help, understanding how having a child with cancer is one of the most difficult things a family can face. Hearing about that and then, with them losing their home, helping the Anastasia family was no question.”

Even though Santino’s life is far from ordinary for a typical child his age, Msgr. John Carroll, pastor of OLM described Santino as a normal kid, who enjoys playing games on his computer. Msgr. Carroll has known Santino since he was born. He baptized him and he will soon administer First Communion to Santino. “He comes from a loving and giving family. At the hospital, they all know him and love him,” said Msgr. Carroll.

The kindness of so many has touched Arthur Anastasia’s heart. “I am overwhelmed with gratitude because of the care of so many. Msgr. Carroll has been a constant support for us. People have left gift cards at our door. One person even left two brand new bikes for my children. Then, I think about the Ramsdens and what they been through and I am amazed by their generosity.”

With health insurance providing 80 percent of the costs of the treatments, 20 percent is the responsibility of the family — and that cost is overwhelming for the Anastasia family. With lab work being done almost daily, the costs continue to add up every day. Sometimes treatment could be up to $10,000. For the family that’s about $2,000 multiplied by the significant amount of times Santino gets lab work. The lab work is on top of the chemotherapy and other medical care bills.

“We’re stressed out a lot about paying for his bills, especially in the beginning. My wife even worried if we didn’t pay on time, would the hospitals and doctors stop medical care? I told her they wouldn’t and that we would take it day by day and pay what we could because no matter what, we would continue to get our son the treatment he needed no matter what the cost,” said Arthur.

To help with the medical expenses, the Ramsdens set up a goal of $50,000 to help the Anastasias. In just one month, $10,000 came in from parishioners, friends, families and even strangers wanting to reach out to help Santino.

While the Anastasia family has experienced so much kindness, Arthur Anastasia describes this journey as an emotional roller coaster. He remembers having a moment where he doubted his faith. “I didn’t want to pray or read Scripture but I couldn’t stop. I felt the Holy Spirit saying, ‘read your Bible’ even though I didn’t want to. But when I picked it up, I turned to the passage that said, ‘Be still, and know that I am God.’ ”

As Santino continues to receive treatment, Msgr. Carroll hopes people will give to help this hard-working and kind Catholic family. “Even before this happened, the Anastasias have always been there for OLM. They can be found at every parish picnic donating the ice cream served and sometimes, Arthur even scoops it himself. Santino is progressing and we continue to pray for him,” said Msgr. Carroll.

To support the Anastasia family: www.gofundme.com/jrn1v4

To support the Anastasia family: http://www.gofundme.com/jrn1v4