Blood Drive in Honor of Tappan Zee HS Athletic Director Liam Frawley

New York Blood Center to Host Blood Drive in Honor of Tappan Zee High School Athletic Director Liam Frawley

New York, NY (May 24, 2016)– This year, the Tappan Zee High School June Blood Drive will be known as the Frawley Strong Drive in honor of Liam Frawley, the school’s athletic director for more than a decade, who suffered a massive brain hemorrhage earlier this year. The drive will be held on Thursday, June 2, 2016, from 8:30 a.m. to 8:30 p.m. at the Tappan Zee High School gym, 15 Dutch Hill Rd, Orangeburg, NY 10962.

The twelve-hour drive is meant to honor Frawley, a beloved member of the teaching staff and community for both his present challenges and past successes, and his road to recovery. NYBC hopes to collect 400 units of blood during the drive.

Frawley, 47, of New City, New York, husband and father of two, suffered a devastating aneurysm on January 25th – only a week after having climbed Mt. Washington in New Hampshire. After spending two months at Westchester Medical Center in Valhalla, NY, he was then transferred to Helen Hayes Hospital in West Haverstraw, NY, where he has been in rehabilitation since March. Today, physicians are still performing subsequent operations, working on controlling the pressure in his head, providing extensive speech therapy and re-teaching him to swallow effectively, among an extensive list of other challenges Frawley faces on his road to recovery. In typical Frawley fashion, he continues to fight.

During his time since the incident, Frawley has been awarded three education awards, including the 2016 National Federation of State High School Associations’ Educator of the Year, a dignified honor he received just days after his health was compromised. Frawley also served as the Director of Physical Education at South Orangetown Central School District. In addition to his work in collegiate sports, he served as an athletic trainer for eight seasons for the New York Yankees, Montreal Expos, and Milwaukee Brewers.

The honoree has a strong support network extending well beyond his school’s community like friends in the Bronx (where he was born and attended Manhattan College) and in professional sports where he served as a trainer for years around the country.

Those who want to show their support but cannot make the June 2nd blood drive, are being encouraged to donate at a blood drive that is convenient for them, and then enter this information on the Frawley Strong web site anytime between June 1 and June 7.

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