Street Kids Visit New Friends at
Memorial Children's Hospital
Players from team spend time with Max and Dillion
by TJ Jorgensen, SKS Director
Memorial Children's Hospital
Players from team spend time with Max and Dillion
by TJ Jorgensen, SKS Director
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South Bend, IN 2/17/09
On Tuesday afternoon, I received an email from Tammy
Robison at Memorial Children's Hospital's
Hematology/Oncology department, telling me that she had
two young boys that would love to see us. She told me the
room number and said if I was in the area, to stop by if I had
the time. I immediately grabbed my phone and got Tammy on
the line, telling her I will be there tonight and I am bringing
friends!
Within 20 minutes of that phone call, I had four players from
the Street Kids/Suburban South softball team telling me they
will change their evening plans if they could come with me
tonight. I was so excited that these players - three of which
drove from Elkhart to South Bend - to come spend 45
minutes with two young boys who are going through the
toughest battle of their young lives as they fight cancer.
On Tuesday afternoon, I received an email from Tammy
Robison at Memorial Children's Hospital's
Hematology/Oncology department, telling me that she had
two young boys that would love to see us. She told me the
room number and said if I was in the area, to stop by if I had
the time. I immediately grabbed my phone and got Tammy on
the line, telling her I will be there tonight and I am bringing
friends!
Within 20 minutes of that phone call, I had four players from
the Street Kids/Suburban South softball team telling me they
will change their evening plans if they could come with me
tonight. I was so excited that these players - three of which
drove from Elkhart to South Bend - to come spend 45
minutes with two young boys who are going through the
toughest battle of their young lives as they fight cancer.
When we first walked in the room, our friend Dillion from the Memorial Bowl back in
January looked at us and got a big smile on his face, and immediately shook all our
hands. His father, Thomas, was also excited to see us their to visit. In the bed next to
Dillion was his roommate, and our new buddy, Max.
Although Max was a little shy, he couldn't stop smiling and giggling the entire time we
were there. We talked about baseball, football, and lots of other things during our stay
and also made sure we invited both boys back to our opening night event in at Belleville
Park, where we bring the children from Memorial onto the field prior to our first league
game of the season, and play catch, run, hit, etc with them. Max told us his favorite pro
team was the Chicago Cubs, which made most of us very happy to hear!
Although we were smiling and laughing with our new friends tonight, I couldn't help but
feel miserable. Why are these two wonderful boys sitting in a hospital bed? Its so
hard to imagine unless you are directly involved with this terrible disease - like Tina,
Max's mother is, or Thomas, Dillion's father is - to know how hard this must be for these
boys. Max wants to play sports but due to his diagnosis of Wilm's Tumor, which is a
cancer of the kidney, in December of 2007 when he was just four years old, Max will be
limited to some of the things he can do. Max had a kidney removed in April of 2008 and
is now in Chemotherapy to help eliminate the cancer that reappeared in Decemeber in his
body. Once the chemo treatment has completed, he will go to Riley Hospital for a very
special and intensive stem cell transplant, which will keep him at Riley for four to six
weeks.
Little boys are not supposed to be in hospital beds. They are supposed to be playing in
the dirt, and playing baseball, and kicking a soccer ball... but even though Max and
Dillion are going through this tough time, you can see courage all over their face. Even at
his young age (he turns six on Wednesday!), Max still has so much strength in his
demeanor. He stood up proud and walked out to the hall way to take some pictures with
January looked at us and got a big smile on his face, and immediately shook all our
hands. His father, Thomas, was also excited to see us their to visit. In the bed next to
Dillion was his roommate, and our new buddy, Max.
Although Max was a little shy, he couldn't stop smiling and giggling the entire time we
were there. We talked about baseball, football, and lots of other things during our stay
and also made sure we invited both boys back to our opening night event in at Belleville
Park, where we bring the children from Memorial onto the field prior to our first league
game of the season, and play catch, run, hit, etc with them. Max told us his favorite pro
team was the Chicago Cubs, which made most of us very happy to hear!
Although we were smiling and laughing with our new friends tonight, I couldn't help but
feel miserable. Why are these two wonderful boys sitting in a hospital bed? Its so
hard to imagine unless you are directly involved with this terrible disease - like Tina,
Max's mother is, or Thomas, Dillion's father is - to know how hard this must be for these
boys. Max wants to play sports but due to his diagnosis of Wilm's Tumor, which is a
cancer of the kidney, in December of 2007 when he was just four years old, Max will be
limited to some of the things he can do. Max had a kidney removed in April of 2008 and
is now in Chemotherapy to help eliminate the cancer that reappeared in Decemeber in his
body. Once the chemo treatment has completed, he will go to Riley Hospital for a very
special and intensive stem cell transplant, which will keep him at Riley for four to six
weeks.
Little boys are not supposed to be in hospital beds. They are supposed to be playing in
the dirt, and playing baseball, and kicking a soccer ball... but even though Max and
Dillion are going through this tough time, you can see courage all over their face. Even at
his young age (he turns six on Wednesday!), Max still has so much strength in his
demeanor. He stood up proud and walked out to the hall way to take some pictures with
the players and laughed with us as we tried to get him to give us a "fist pound".
Dillion, who is eight years old, and has been battling cancer since a tumor was found on his spine last year, was given some
great news that the chemotherapy had removed the tumors from his body. But he will still have to go through the next two
years of treatment and will still have to wear his back brace for a while. But he is looking forward to the spring, when he will
start playing t-ball. Which is what every little boy should be doing; not lying in a hospital bed wishing he was playing.
I am thankful for Street Kids Care and for what we do off the field. Not just for raising awareness for things like breast cancer,
walking in support of cancer at Relay for Life, not just for helping the homeless or spending time with children at the Boys and
Girls Club. But for times like tonight, where we just sat and talked with two boys who wanted to feel normal again; Who
wanted to talk to people that they knew actually cared about how they were doing, even though they barely know them.
Because of Street Kids Care, my teammates like Tony, Mark, Jason and Scott, and all the others who participate in our
events, understand what it means to touch other people's lives. To know that the short time we spent with them tonight brought
smiles and joy to their lives. Its not about playing softball or winning trophies or anything else.
Street Kids Care is about life. Plain and simple.
______________________________________________________________________________________________
To learn more about Street Kids Care, visit www.StreetKidsCare.com or contact TJ Jorgensen.
Dillion, who is eight years old, and has been battling cancer since a tumor was found on his spine last year, was given some
great news that the chemotherapy had removed the tumors from his body. But he will still have to go through the next two
years of treatment and will still have to wear his back brace for a while. But he is looking forward to the spring, when he will
start playing t-ball. Which is what every little boy should be doing; not lying in a hospital bed wishing he was playing.
I am thankful for Street Kids Care and for what we do off the field. Not just for raising awareness for things like breast cancer,
walking in support of cancer at Relay for Life, not just for helping the homeless or spending time with children at the Boys and
Girls Club. But for times like tonight, where we just sat and talked with two boys who wanted to feel normal again; Who
wanted to talk to people that they knew actually cared about how they were doing, even though they barely know them.
Because of Street Kids Care, my teammates like Tony, Mark, Jason and Scott, and all the others who participate in our
events, understand what it means to touch other people's lives. To know that the short time we spent with them tonight brought
smiles and joy to their lives. Its not about playing softball or winning trophies or anything else.
Street Kids Care is about life. Plain and simple.
______________________________________________________________________________________________
To learn more about Street Kids Care, visit www.StreetKidsCare.com or contact TJ Jorgensen.