My son is a senior in high school. One of his best friends, named Alec, has been batting brain cancer since eighth grade. After a surgery, radiation, and chemo, he was deemed to be in remission. He was able to attend part of his sophomore year in high school and things seemed to be getting back to normal. Unfortunately, at the start of his junior year, the cancer reappeared in his spine and was inoperable. After trying an experimental treatment at Duke and enduring many intense rounds of chemo, the cancer has won. It's made it's way back into his brain and is causing him to have seizures and is affecting his memory and balance. Two weeks ago, he entered hospice.
Throughout his fight, Alec has been tremendous. He has never expressed sorrow for himself and has remained positive, friendly, and supportive of others. I don't know where he has found the strength to endure his fight with such grace and maturity.
His mother has been equally tremendous. Alec's father passed away many years ago and it's just he and his mom. His mother served in the Navy and is now a nurse at the University of Michigan. Understandably, she's had to take several batches of time off of work to care for her son. She now can't take any more time off and will have to stop working without pay and without health insurance to spend the last bit of time with her son. She's a rock of a woman with tremendous faith, but this is, as one would expect, very hard on her.
Along the way, the University of Michigan and student athlete's have been very supportive of Alec. He's gotten to attend multiple hockey games and sit on the glass. Experiences like this brighten Alec's life. When Alec was battling his first round of cancer, Jake Butt was matched up with him and took him to a UM event. This was particularly meaningful to Alec because football was his passion. Like Jake, Alec played TE for his team and had planned to play TE in high school.
After spending the day with Alec, Jake continued to text Alec and became his friend. While most college kids would choose to watch the Super Bowl at a party with friends, Jake instead went to Alec's house and watched the game next to Alec on his couch. When Alec entered hospice, Jake didn't text or call Alec. Instead, Jake flew back from Denver and visited Alec again in person.
Other Michigan athletes have sent messages to Alec. After the Michigan State victory, both Josh Metellus and Shea Patterson recorded messages to Alec wishing him well. Messages like that are wonderful because it lets Alec know that he isn't forgotten and give him something positive upon which to focus.
I wanted to share Alec's story and UM's involvement because I think that it's important to know that the young men for whom we cheer are worthy of our admiration. Alec's situation also can give us all some perspective when we worry about our own lives.
Lastly, I can't emphasize enough how impressed I am by Alec's courage, his mother's strength, and Jake's incredible, genuine investment.
I'm going to include a link to a gofundme for Alec and his mom that has been published. Please don't feel any pressure to donate, but if you're so inclined, I'm sure they would appreciate it.
I didn't post this to try to wrestle money out of anyone and I hope it doesn't come across that way. I posted it for several reasons: 1) I'm pretty upset by the entire situation, and selfishly, it's therapeutic for me to talk about the experience; 2) I wanted to share Alec's story in hope that it would encourage everyone to hug their loved ones; and 3) I wanted to recognize UM, and in particular, Jake Butt, for their support of Alec during his battle.
Here's the link to Alec's gofundme:
https://www.gofundme.com/f/alec-and...edium=copy_link&utm_campaign=p_cp+share-sheet
Mods: I apologize if it's bad form to include the gofundme. If it is, please just edit my message (or contact me to edit it) and delete it.
Throughout his fight, Alec has been tremendous. He has never expressed sorrow for himself and has remained positive, friendly, and supportive of others. I don't know where he has found the strength to endure his fight with such grace and maturity.
His mother has been equally tremendous. Alec's father passed away many years ago and it's just he and his mom. His mother served in the Navy and is now a nurse at the University of Michigan. Understandably, she's had to take several batches of time off of work to care for her son. She now can't take any more time off and will have to stop working without pay and without health insurance to spend the last bit of time with her son. She's a rock of a woman with tremendous faith, but this is, as one would expect, very hard on her.
Along the way, the University of Michigan and student athlete's have been very supportive of Alec. He's gotten to attend multiple hockey games and sit on the glass. Experiences like this brighten Alec's life. When Alec was battling his first round of cancer, Jake Butt was matched up with him and took him to a UM event. This was particularly meaningful to Alec because football was his passion. Like Jake, Alec played TE for his team and had planned to play TE in high school.
After spending the day with Alec, Jake continued to text Alec and became his friend. While most college kids would choose to watch the Super Bowl at a party with friends, Jake instead went to Alec's house and watched the game next to Alec on his couch. When Alec entered hospice, Jake didn't text or call Alec. Instead, Jake flew back from Denver and visited Alec again in person.
Other Michigan athletes have sent messages to Alec. After the Michigan State victory, both Josh Metellus and Shea Patterson recorded messages to Alec wishing him well. Messages like that are wonderful because it lets Alec know that he isn't forgotten and give him something positive upon which to focus.
I wanted to share Alec's story and UM's involvement because I think that it's important to know that the young men for whom we cheer are worthy of our admiration. Alec's situation also can give us all some perspective when we worry about our own lives.
Lastly, I can't emphasize enough how impressed I am by Alec's courage, his mother's strength, and Jake's incredible, genuine investment.
I'm going to include a link to a gofundme for Alec and his mom that has been published. Please don't feel any pressure to donate, but if you're so inclined, I'm sure they would appreciate it.
I didn't post this to try to wrestle money out of anyone and I hope it doesn't come across that way. I posted it for several reasons: 1) I'm pretty upset by the entire situation, and selfishly, it's therapeutic for me to talk about the experience; 2) I wanted to share Alec's story in hope that it would encourage everyone to hug their loved ones; and 3) I wanted to recognize UM, and in particular, Jake Butt, for their support of Alec during his battle.
Here's the link to Alec's gofundme:
https://www.gofundme.com/f/alec-and...edium=copy_link&utm_campaign=p_cp+share-sheet
Mods: I apologize if it's bad form to include the gofundme. If it is, please just edit my message (or contact me to edit it) and delete it.
