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Anemia patient donates $250K to doctor’s brain-tumor-research fund
With the gift, the Tommy Detesco Fund has raised about $400,000 in six months.
YOUNGSTOWN — Gratitude to the physician he says saved his life is why Ben Lupo, owner of D&L Energy Group, said he pledged $250,000 to the Tommy Detesco Fund for Adolescents and Young Adult Brain Tumor Research — the goal of which is to save many lives.
Lupo, 58, credited Dr. Thomas N. Detesco of Poland, Tommy’s father, for saving his life by “expertly managing” his anemia.
“I’ve know Dr. Detesco for 30 years. He is my physician and friend. I owe him much and I hope my gift will pay him back in part,” Lupo said Wednesday in presenting the donation to Dr. Detesco.
Thomas Andrew Detesco was afflicted intermittently by a brain tumor from the age of 3 until he was 32, his age when he died Aug. 31, 2007. His mother is Lucille Detesco of Canfield.
Tommy’s father started the Tommy fund in May 2008 as a tribute to his son, whose life, Dr. Detesco said, was extended by research and new treatments allowing him to become an inspiration to his family and friends and serve as a model for other brain cancer patients.
Dr. Detesco said the goal of the Tommy fund, which supports research and clinical treatments at the Cleveland Clinic Brain Tumor and Neuro-Oncology Center, is to create an endowed chair at the clinic dedicated exclusively to research in adolescent and young-adult brain tumors.
Dr. Detesco, whose practice is First Medical Associates in Boardman, said the fund targets research for adolescents and young adults because that is an area that does not receive enough attention. He said brain tumors are the most common cause of cancer deaths in that age category.
Lupo, who said he would not be here were it not for Dr. Detesco’s skill and caring, said he is also is “touched by Dr. Detesco’s devotion as a father and his determination to find innovative ways to treat brain tumors in adolescents and young adults. His goals are noble and deserve support simply on the merits.”
Lupo said his business, drilling oil and gas wells in Ohio and Pennsylvania, has done well, and the business is how he said he will fund his $250,000 donation to the Tommy fund.
He said he will make the Tommy fund a partner, at no cost, in a number of wells being developed. “I personally guarantee that the Tommy fund will get $250,000 from this arrangement, not one penny less.”
However, he said there is no cap on the gift.
“If the wells produce more than expected, the Tommy fund will benefit. Personally, I hope the final give is closer to $1 million,” Lupo said.
“The bottom line is that there isn’t enough being done to help adolescent and young-adult brain-tumor patients. The Tommy fund is ready to make a big difference, and I want to be part of that difference,” Lupo said.
Lupo and his wife, Polly, have two children, Bobbie Serensky, of Chagrin Falls, and Joe, of Berlin Center.
Dr. Detesco said Lupo’s gift brings the Tommy fund to the level of other major fund-raising efforts in the country. “It was unexpected, but a blessing to our efforts,” he said.
With Lupo’s gift, the Tommy fund has raised about $400,000 in six months, Dr. Detesco said.
Contributions can be mailed to the Tommy Detesco Fund for Adolescents and Young Adult Brain Tumor Research, 7341 Eisenhower Drive, Boardman, Ohio, 44512; or Paul Pawaczyk, director of development, Cleveland Clinic Taussig Cancer Center, 9500 Euclid Ave./R36, Cleveland, Ohio 44195. Checks should be made payable to the Cleveland Clinic Foundation, and Tommy Detesco Fund should be placed on the memo line.
alcorn@vindy.com