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JANUARY 28 - FEBRUARY 3, 2021
Vol. 24 No. 4
WWII veteran dons cap and gown at 95
BEllmoRE NAtiVE GEFF Gruber is using social media — and the old-fashioned kind — to spread the word about his search for a kidney donor.
missed him since he moved into Benton House of Port Orange, an assisted-living facility in FlorFor North Bellmore native ida, two years ago. Now the panJames “Jimmy” Graziano, demic strains their relationship receiving his high school diplo- further — they’ve seen each ma was better late than never. It other only twice in the past year. was a surprise, in fact, for his “It was the first Christmas 95th birthday. without my father,” Graziano was on said Kaniuka, who track to graduate now lives in from Mepham upstate QueensHigh School in bury. June 1944, at age 18. “Without her,” Like many other her father said, young men at the “I’m nothing.” time, however, he Because of the was drafted into distance, Kaniuka the Ar my and wanted to plan a served in World special surprise for War II. He was her father’s 95th called up in April b i r t h d a y. S h e of that year, when JAmES GRAziANo hatched the idea to he was just two North Bellmore native get him his diplomonths short of m a , b u t d i d n’ t completing his know what to high school career. expect when she reached out to Graziano would have been the Mepham High, she said. first in his family to do so, but he She connected with Peggy didn’t regret the “three good Schroeder, secretary to Principal meals a day” that the Army pro- Eric Gomez, who was “wondervided him, his daughter, Pat ful” in helping her get a diploma Kaniuka, said. with her father’s name on it, “My dad is a very proud veter- Kaniuka said. The package, an,” she said. “He wears his ‘vet’ which was sent to Florida just in hat every day.” time for Graziano’s birthday on Kaniuka has a close relationship with her father, and has Continued on page 3
By ANdREW GARCiA agarcia@liherald.com
i
Courtesy Noelle Gruber
Seeking a kidney donor with ‘Supernatural’ help By AlYSSA SEidmAN aseidman@liherald.com
A Bellmore man is using social media to spread the word about his search for a living kidney donor. Four hours a day, three days a week, Geff Gruber, 31, undergoes dialysis, the standard treatment for kidney failure, at a dialysis center in Freeport. This has been his weekly routine since June. “Physically, it’s very draining, but today I’m feeling
OK,” he told the Herald. “Most days are kind of rough, and any kind of exertion just makes it worse.” Before his diagnosis, Gruber had an active, healthy lifestyle, he said, and enjoyed fishing, working out and hiking. Now, he said, he has to “take it easy.” Finding a donor is imperative, because the kidney that’s failing is the only one he has. In his mid-20s, Gruber was “big into bodybuilding,” he said, and when he had rou-
tine blood work done at age 26, doctors noted high levels of creatinine in his blood, which can indicate that the kidneys aren’t functioning well. A subsequent sonogram found that Gruber had been born with only one kidney, a fact that had evaded doctors for 26 years. “It was kind of a big shock,” he said. “Since I was a kid no one figured this out, and a lot could’ve been prevented.” Continued on page 5
It was something I had to do. It was my duty — I am the greatest generation.