Bassett Hospital is holding a blood drive next week in memory of a Cooperstown Central School graduate who died in April.

The drive, scheduled for Aug. 29 and 30 at Bassett Hall, is being held in memory of Brett Ferrando, of Fly Creek, who graduated from CCS in 2003. In 2002, Ferrando was diagnosed with Hodgkin's lymphoma, a blood cancer which attacks the lymphatic system, a subsystem of the circulatory system. Despite a valiant fight and treatment including chemotherapy followed by radiation and a donor stem cell treatment, Ferrando died April 26.

"Brave doesn't even adequately describe him," said his uncle Dr. Michael Gold in a statement released by Bassett Hospital. "He was an amazing accomplished young man. He never felt sorry for himself."

Ferrando was diagnosed with disease after a shoulder injury incurred while wrestling sent him to the hospital for X-rays. He was a captain on the team during his junior year of school and also played soccer at CCS.

The summer before he was diagnosed, Ferrando paddled 70 miles up river in Maine with an Outward Bound group, said his mother Joan Ferrando.

"Nothing kept him down. Two weeks after finishing radiation therapy Brett returned to school and played varsity soccer," she said.

"Brett was just one of those kids who always gave 100 percent," said CCS wrestling coach Jim Jordan. He said Ferrando never reached his full potential as a wrestler, primarily because he got sick before he had the chance.

Cooperstown High School principal Gary Kuch remembered Ferrando as a quiet student, but the kind of kid "you just love having in your school."

"We never really got a sense of how bad it was," Kuch said. "He was so cheerful. He came back [after treatment] and seemed like he had it beat."

Ferrando was selected as a University at Buffalo scholar and planned to major in anthropology and pre-med. He never stopped planning to attend the college, all throughout his treatment. It wasn't the Hodgkin's itself that killed him, but complications from the donor stem cell transplant.

Gold estimated that during the three and a half years of treatment, Ferrando required at least 50 units of blood.

"He could never have had the years he did without the donation of blood products," Gold said. Gold and Ferrando's mother are encouraging people to donate.

"I think he would feel good about the fact that he was giving back [to the hospital]," said Samantha Davenport, director of transfusion services at the hospital. "We were very much impressed by his spirit and drive. This is a concrete way to memorialize him."

The scheduled donation times are Monday, Aug. 29 from 7:30 a.m. until 12:30 p.m. and Tuesday, Aug. 30 from 12:30 p.m. until 6:30 p.m. Walk-ins are welcome, but appointments are preferred and can be made by calling 547-6933.

"It truly is a gift of life," Joan Ferrando said.