Wednesday, March 07, 2007
Locker finds a buddy in bubbly boy - Seattle P-I
...For an hour and a half, the UW's quarterback of the future frolicked with a youngster whose own fate isn't nearly as promising. Doctors discovered a tumor four weeks ago inside Kyle Roger's head, the type of tumor that weaves ugly tentacles through a brain that deserves far better.
The disease is inoperable. Roger, a kindergarten student at Happy Valley Elementary, now undergoes radiation treatment at the University of Washington Medical Center five days a week. His mom says 50 percent of children with such brain-stem tumors survive a year. Five percent last five years.
The long odds and swift nature of the disease are enough to knock any parent flat. But Christin Roger had other ideas. So it was that Kyle and brother Nicolas, 7, spent a sunny afternoon soaking up a day by the lake with Jake, the quarterback they followed during his prep days at Ferndale High.
...
After receiving a phone call last week from a friend of Kyle's mother asking for a little favor, Locker met with the family and took them through a day at the stadium. They came out the tunnel, woofing just like Huskies players. They ran races, played catch, talked about video games, exchanged good-natured barbs. They huddled, cuddled and generally hung out like lifelong friends. Which by afternoon's end, appeared to be just the case.
"I have no doubt he's going to fight this as hard as he can," Locker said after inviting his new buddy to hang out in his dorm some day down the road. "It's stories like this that help people believe, that give everybody else hope.
"This is a kid dealing with a life-threatening illness, yet he's not letting it bring him down. I think it's a good example for everybody. When you think things may be bad, there could be a lot worse happening to you."
Kyle Roger has no quit in his body, that much was clear Tuesday. After undergoing radiation treatment just hours earlier, he led Locker on a tireless pace once they hit the Husky Stadium turf.
After asking to race the length of the field, the youngster took a U-turn at the far goal post and sprinted the entire 120 yards back the other way as well, finally collapsing in a pile under the goal post.
"Feel my chest," he said to a sweating Locker.
"Wow," the quarterback said. "You've got a big heart."
...
"The funny part is," said the former high school All-American, "this is as fun for me as it is for him. A lot of people don't think of it that way sometimes. I love it. Getting a call from his mom, wondering if I'd be willing to do this? Heck, I wish I could find these kids and call them and ask if they'd want to come hang out.
"This is something that benefits me in more ways than he will ever know. It's something that is very special for me." ...
...For an hour and a half, the UW's quarterback of the future frolicked with a youngster whose own fate isn't nearly as promising. Doctors discovered a tumor four weeks ago inside Kyle Roger's head, the type of tumor that weaves ugly tentacles through a brain that deserves far better.
The disease is inoperable. Roger, a kindergarten student at Happy Valley Elementary, now undergoes radiation treatment at the University of Washington Medical Center five days a week. His mom says 50 percent of children with such brain-stem tumors survive a year. Five percent last five years.
The long odds and swift nature of the disease are enough to knock any parent flat. But Christin Roger had other ideas. So it was that Kyle and brother Nicolas, 7, spent a sunny afternoon soaking up a day by the lake with Jake, the quarterback they followed during his prep days at Ferndale High.
...
After receiving a phone call last week from a friend of Kyle's mother asking for a little favor, Locker met with the family and took them through a day at the stadium. They came out the tunnel, woofing just like Huskies players. They ran races, played catch, talked about video games, exchanged good-natured barbs. They huddled, cuddled and generally hung out like lifelong friends. Which by afternoon's end, appeared to be just the case.
"I have no doubt he's going to fight this as hard as he can," Locker said after inviting his new buddy to hang out in his dorm some day down the road. "It's stories like this that help people believe, that give everybody else hope.
"This is a kid dealing with a life-threatening illness, yet he's not letting it bring him down. I think it's a good example for everybody. When you think things may be bad, there could be a lot worse happening to you."
Kyle Roger has no quit in his body, that much was clear Tuesday. After undergoing radiation treatment just hours earlier, he led Locker on a tireless pace once they hit the Husky Stadium turf.
After asking to race the length of the field, the youngster took a U-turn at the far goal post and sprinted the entire 120 yards back the other way as well, finally collapsing in a pile under the goal post.
"Feel my chest," he said to a sweating Locker.
"Wow," the quarterback said. "You've got a big heart."
...
"The funny part is," said the former high school All-American, "this is as fun for me as it is for him. A lot of people don't think of it that way sometimes. I love it. Getting a call from his mom, wondering if I'd be willing to do this? Heck, I wish I could find these kids and call them and ask if they'd want to come hang out.
"This is something that benefits me in more ways than he will ever know. It's something that is very special for me." ...
Labels: compassionate people
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