Jason Vitale; Leukemia Victim Drew National Sympathy

Jason Vitale, 11, whose battle with leukemia provoked an outpouring of sympathy when New Hampshire refused to help pay for a life-saving bone marrow transplant. Jason’s leukemia was diagnosed when was 5 and living in Derry, N.H. He needed a $250,000 bone marrow transplant and the White House agreed to pay half the cost. New Hampshire refused to help because Jason did not come from a broken home and did not qualify for Medicaid. When the boy’s plight became known, private donations raised $70,000 and an anonymous businessman from Danville, N.H., offered to pay the rest. New Hampshire has since changed its policy. Vitale received a second transplant in California in 1985, with his 1-year-old sister, Mary Ellen, as the donor. In December doctors detected a new, untreatable strain of leukemia in his blood. On Wednesday in Saugus, Mass.