Nathan Panarese, who grew up in Boothbay and graduated from Wiscasset High School in 2014, was diagnosed with Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia on Oct. 28, 2015.

Panarese, 20, was diagnosed with the disease while attending the University of Maine in Orono where he was studying electrical engineering as a sophomore.

According to his family, he has been very sick the past few months and was hospitalized at Maine Medical Center from August to October. He was then transferred to the Boston Children's Hospital in hopes of getting him well enough to come back home. Recently, the family received news that his bone marrow was failing and he would need a bone marrow transplant. His brother Nick (25) and sisters Angela (30) and Cassie (22) were all tested to see if any of them could be a donor. Fortunately, Cassie was a 100 percent match and will be donating her bone marrow to Nathan on Friday, Nov. 18.

Since he will be staying in the hospital for at least two to three more months, the family has opened accounts at bottle redemption centers in Wiscasset and Boothbay under his name to help raise money for the family to travel to and from Boston.

For other information regarding Nathan or other ways to donate, call Cassie Panarese at 207-315-1471.