FORT WORTH — North Texans honored 11-year-old Dominic Mazziotta on Wednesday — a San Antonio boy with a blood disease so rare, there are only 30 known cases in the world.
There was no official ceremony, at Tarrant County College; just a few cots and a bunch of needles as students and teachers rolled up their sleeves to donate their blood.
Dominic is the only child in the world known to be suffering from the disease.
"It's called Kaposi's Hemangioendothelioma with Kasabach-Merritt Syndrome and Disseminated Intravascular Coagulation," explained his mom, Gina Mazziotta. She said what the disease does to Dominic is as complicated as its name.
It creates large tumors that attack his blood, requiring a constant stream of transfusions.
"So today, all these people who have come in to give blood are heroes," Mazziotta said. "Without even realizing it, they're saving lives. We would have lost our son without the blood donations that have been given throughout the years."
"It's nice to be able to put a face to somebody, but honestly, even if it weren't for him, I'd still be here," said blood donor Michael Workman.
That's good, because Dominic's blood is so rare, most of the liquid life gathered at Tarrant County College will be useless to him — but he knows it will save many other lives.
And that's why Dominic calls each and every donor his personal hero.
E-mail jstjames@wfaa.com
