A former Yorktown High School teacher known for changing students’ lives is now facing the fight of his own life — and his family is asking the community he served for help.
Aldo Belardo, who taught and coached girls soccer at Yorktown High School from 1973 until his retirement in 2005, is battling Acute Myeloid Leukemia (AML). His daughter, Robin Jadick, is urging Yorktown residents and others to join the national stem cell registry in hopes of finding a donor match.
Belardo also served as an adjunct professor at Pace University from 1998 to 2012. He taught French, Spanish and Italian and served as chairman of the foreign language department for many years before retiring.
Jadick told Yorktown News in an email that her father remains beloved by generations of former students.
Many, she said, "remember him as kind, humorous, caring, and a positive life changing force for high school students who might have otherwise dropped out." She added that "he is often referred to as one of the best teachers in YHS by former students throughout his tenure."
As Jadick has shared updates on her father's cancer journey, former students and community members have responded with messages recalling his impact and the difference he made in their lives.
Belardo was diagnosed with AML in February and has since endured intensive chemotherapy treatments. He has spent time in and out of the hospital and requires frequent blood and platelet transfusions.
After retiring, Belardo moved to Landenberg, Pennsylvania, in 2011 with his wife, Kathy Belardo, also a retired Yorktown High School teacher, to be closer to their daughters and future grandchildren.
In 2017, Jadick said, Belardo helped his granddaughter Riley through her own leukemia diagnosis, serving as "an ever present positive and optimistic presence as she endured almost three years of treatment."
Now, he faces his own battle.
According to Jadick, a stem cell transplant is Belardo's only curative treatment option, "but to date there has not been a good enough match to proceed."
Family members have not proven to be suitable matches, and Jadick said his best hope is finding a donor through the national registry.
People ages 18 to 35 can join the registry and be tested at no cost. Potential donors receive a cheek-swab kit by mail and return it using a prepaid package.
Belardo “needs help from the community as he critically races to find a stem cell transplant donor,” Jadick wrote to Yorrktown News.
More information about joining the registry and requesting a swab kit is available through the National Marrow Donor Program.
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