Bone Marrow Donor Sought, Fundraisers Set for Lansdale Youth

Matthew Knoebel, 12, a Penndale Middle Schooler, is currently battling leukemia at Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, and a donor will be needed. A pancake fundraiser is set for Dec. 16 in Hatfield, as well as a hot chocolate sale

Penndale seventh-grader Matthew Knoebel is surrounded by love and generosity. The leukemia patient, 12, has spent a month on a hospital bed at Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, but you can tell his mother, Christina Simpson, has made him feel at home. The hearts of the West Point-rooted Simpson family — sisters Christina and fiance Tom Coughlin, Kellie Roggio, of Upper Gwynedd, and Mary Aderman of Lansdale; brother Michael; and parents Mike and Sue — are much like their homelife (and Matthew's hospital room door): open. On Halloween, Knoebel and his mom spent the afternoon watching Jim Gaffigan’s “Beyond the Pale.” Later that night, Christina took a Halloween bag of candy to her son, which was donated through Altoona’s “Make a …

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