More than 70,000 Pennsylvanians will be diagnosed with cancer this year, according to the American Cancer Society. Almost 30,000 of them will die because of it.

Those are big numbers -- impersonally big -- for many of us. But Gerard Antonucci, 67, a retired Pittsburgh police detective from Morningside, whose son, Jeffrey, lives in Scott, knows only too well how personal they can become overnight.

On June 30, he lost his wife, Mary Frances, 69, after a 25-day battle with acute myelogenous leukemia.

Mr. Antonucci said his wife's death has devastated their close-knit family, but he pointed out that their sudden familiarity with cancer has led them to reach out in a way he knows his wife would have approved.

On July 3, the day of his wife's funeral, Mr. Antonucci said he happened to glance at the Post-Gazette East edition.

"The paper was turned up to the story about Brandon," he said. "And after all my wife went through, I got very touched."

That story was about North Huntingdon resident Brandon Lewis, 20, and his ongoing struggle with acute lymphoblastic leukemia. Mr. Lewis' leukemia has come back after a stem cell transplant, and his doctors say he must undergo a second transplant. But no match had yet been found on the registry of the National Marrow Donor Program.

Stem cell transplants are often the last treatment option for diseases such as leukemia and lymphoma.

Although he didn't know Mr. Lewis, Mr. Antonucci showed the article to his son and asked him to try to contact Mr. Lewis with the idea of sponsoring a blood drive for him where donors could be tested for stem cell compatibility.

"I was thinking," said Mr. Antonucci, "we should try to get something good out of this."

Jeffrey Antonucci, 42, said that afternoon he opened a Pittsburgh phone book to the "Ls" and started calling.

"I got him almost right away," he said of Mr. Lewis. "I think it was the second number I dialed."

Mr. Lewis has since become friends with the family, but he said at first that he was surprised by the Antonuccis' sponsorship offer and saddened to hear of their loss.

"I was deeply upset," he said. "A disease like this is never easy."

The family noted that Mrs. Antonucci's passing has been particularly difficult to bear because of how quickly her illness progressed -- and how full of life she was at the outset of her treatment.

Doctors discovered her leukemia during a routine blood test at the beginning of June, and the family said at first they were optimistic because of her excellent health.

"She was a health nut," said Mrs. Antonucci's daughter, Lori Pennell.

Since her mother's retirement from customer service at the Shadyside branch of National City Bank, she added, the grandmother of six "was at the gym all the time. She was vivacious, looked 10 years younger than her age."

But it seemed every advance in her treatment was followed by a setback, including widespread infection and fluid in her lungs.

"We slept by the phone," Jeffrey Antonucci said. "It was a roller-coaster ride, but it only went one way -- down."

By June 30, the family decided to remove Mrs. Antonucci from her respirator, and she died a few minutes later.

Mrs. Pennell's husband, Ken Pennell, said his family had already arranged for a blood drive to be held July 21 for Mrs. Antonucci when she died.

"So when we heard about Brandon, it just made sense for us to go ahead with it, but for him," Mr. Pennell said.

The blood drive was held July 21 at the Cranberry municipal building and attracted about 100 donors, many of whom opted to be tested for bone marrow compatibility.

Last week, Mr. Lewis learned from the staff of Hillman Cancer Center that a match has been found for him.

Mr. Lewis said he probably will never know whether the donor was found through the Antonuccis' effort because of the confidentiality laws that protect marrow donors, but he said he'll always be grateful to the family for offering to help him.

"They didn't have to do that, but they did," he said of the blood drive. "I'll never forget it."

Mr. Antonucci's eldest son, Jerry, 44, of Murrysville, said that before June, "none of us really knew what leukemia was." But the family's personal experience with the disease has led them to hope Mr. Lewis will become a different kind of cancer statistic: a survivor.