On January 12th, Wayne Valley freshman and football player Rocco Sivolella and his family received news that would change their lives forever. Rocco found out that he had been diagnosed with Acute Myeloid Leukemia (AML), a rare type of cancer that affects the body’s blood and bone marrow with excess white blood cells.

The Wayne community rallied together to give support to Rocco and his family almost immediately. A “We Fight With Rocco” GoFundMe was started by a good friend of Rocco’s family, Christina Kindler, and was shared throughout all of Wayne and other nearby townships. The fundraiser was shared through social media and it has raised $79,000 and continues to increase daily. Rocco and his family cannot thank everyone enough for aiding them in this difficult time.
In addition to the GoFundMe fundraiser, there are many other ways people have shown their support for Rocco. There are “We Fight With Rocco” sweatshirts, crewnecks, bracelets, and more merchandise available to purchase, with all proceeds going to Rocco and his family. At many Wayne events, his story has been mentioned to gain Wayne’s support and raise awareness for other people dealing with Leukemia.

On April 19th, which was Rocco’s birthday, all of Wayne agreed to wear “We Fight With Rocco” apparel or the color orange to support Rocco. Students from both Wayne Valley and Wayne Hills high school came to school wearing clothes in support of Rocco, and after seeing all of the pictures and birthday wishes coming from everyone, Rocco was so appreciative to see the amount of support he has in his community. He said, “It feels great to have so much support throughout this. Seeing people wearing [“We Fight With Rocco”] merch has the same effect. It makes me so happy to see people all around town supporting me.”

Rocco has had multiple rounds of chemotherapy and has been improving rapidly! The Wayne community has been by his side throughout his whole fight against cancer, and their prayers and support have given him positive vibes towards recovery. Wayne will not stop there as they will continue to donate, purchase We Fight With Rocco apparel, give kind prayers and words, show support and love during his recovery, and spread awareness about Leukemia.