Alex: A lesson in courage

  • Posted: Monday, April 20, 2020, 9:47 am
Y-12ers have stepped up to support one of our own, Y-12 Engineering’s Tony Grappin, whose son was diagnosed with leukemia.

Y-12ers have stepped up to support one of our own, Y-12 Engineering’s Tony Grappin, whose son was diagnosed with leukemia.

In 2018, Tony Grappin of Y-12 Engineering shared that his son Alex was diagnosed with leukemia. In October 2018, Y-12ers stepped up to have the best turnout for a MEDIC blood drive, all in honor of Alex.

Tony shared the following:
In April 2019, Alex entered maintenance, which is when we were supposed to be able to breathe easier. Life would be returning to normal. Two days after the maintenance milestone, though, he suffered a reaction from his chemo that caused inflammation in his white matter. He’s still recovering from this 10 months later, and he still has a good way to go.

Every year, the Knoxville chapter of the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society chooses two children to spotlight. Alex was chosen as Boy of the Year for 2020! I would be extremely grateful if you would like to help us meet our fundraising goal of $25,000. So far, we’re over $5,000. If you would like to donate, please visit Alex’s page at https://pages.lls.org/mwoy/tn/knox20/agrappin.

For more than 15 years, Y-12 has supported the LLS Light the Night walk held in October each year. For 2020, Y-12 has two ties to the LLS person/child of the year with Alex Grappin as the 2020 Boy of the Year, and Y-12er Tony White is in the running for the Man of the Year.