University of Massachusets Athletics
A Different Victory: Field Hockey Helps Cancer Patient
September 19, 2007 | Field Hockey
Sept. 19, 2007
AMHERST, Mass. -
When Division I college athletes are recruited by coaches to play their respective sports, winning games is usually stressed as the most important thing.
During the 2007 season, though, the Massachusetts field hockey team will partake in something far more significant than whatever they do or don't accomplish on the field.
When first-year assistant coach Kelly Dostal realized the 2007 Northwestern women's lacrosse team was on the verge of winning their third straight national championship, she began to follow the team's season. Dostal had won three consecutive field hockey championships at Wake Forest from 2002-04, and was curious to see if the Wildcats could replicate a similar feat.
While following of the team, she caught wind of a story that had little to do with championships, and a lot to do with human compassion.
Jaclyn Murphy grew up as any other normal child did. She was the picture of health, until she was suddenly diagnosed with medulloblastoma in 2004, which the Friends of Jaclyn Web site describes as "a malignant and life-threatening tumor." Jaclyn's family decided to stop her chemotherapy prematurely, as the five-and-a-half sessions she underwent began to take its toll. The 10-year-old was losing weight and her hearing.
Through connections that led the family to the Northwestern women's lacrosse team, Jaclyn became an instrumental part of the Wildcats' success. She became part of the team during the 2005 season, in which Northwestern went 21-0 and won its first of three consecutive national championships. Jaclyn, who will turn 13 later this month, has remained a part of the team since. One game last year was held in her hometown of Yorktown, N.Y.
The donations from that game between Northwestern and UMass raised over $40,000 for the Friends of Jaclyn Foundation, and things began to take off from there.
Fast forward to 2007. Camp Sunshine, located on Maine's Sebago Lake, describes itself as "a retreat for children with life-threatening illnesses and their families." This is where Jaclyn was introduced to Marissa Factora from Ridge, N.Y.
Marissa's story isn't all that different from Jaclyn's. When she was seven years old, Marissa began suffering from headaches and vomiting. Assuming it was standard, Marissa's mother, Michelle, brought her to a doctor. After finding a brain tumor, doctors told the family that there was a 99 percent chance that it was not cancer. Unfortunately for the Factoras, the slim 1 percent chance became a horrifying reality.
Unable to walk after chemotherapy, Marissa was forced to wear leg braces and ride in a wheelchair. She was enrolled in physical therapy four days a week, including two days a week before she went to school. After six months elapsed, she was able to walk again.
When Marissa began complaining of back pains, the Factoras were forced to seek medical help once again. The tumor had now spread down the spine, and Marissa once again needed to undergo chemotherapy treatment.
With that treatment, the tumor in her spine has been removed, but the tumor in her head will remain there for the duration of Marissa's life. It's currently stable, and the 11-year-old has grown four inches since her last chemo treatment.
 Marissa, her brother Shane, and Coaches (L to R) Chrissy Needham, Kelly Dostal, and Justine Sowry.  |
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With the suggestion from Dostal, Marissa will now become a part of the UMass field hockey team for the 2007 season. She was present at the Siena game this past Sunday and will try to attend other games throughout the season.
"All you're doing is being a friend to these sick kids," Dostal said. "It means the world to them."
Accompanied by her mother and younger brother Shane, Marissa was introduced to each member of the team this past Friday night. Each player went around and gave their name as well as a fact that made them unique from the others.
The team also presented Marissa with a field hockey media guide, a UMass sweatshirt, and a pompom. In addition to this, the newest member of the team received a sewing kit from the Friends of Jaclyn Foundation.
Judging from the way Marissa handled herself throughout the night, one would never guess that she has a brain tumor. A smile adorned her face during the introductions, and when presented with the sewing kit, she playfully asked her mother, "Do I have to carry it back to the car?"
Jaclyn and her father, Denis, were also present for Marissa's introduction to the team. Denis is a big proponent of the interaction between collegiate teams and disadvantaged children. He witnessed the Northwestern lacrosse team help his daughter through the tough times, and although Denis says that the "game isn't as big as life itself," the team was able to take her mind off shots and other unpleasant medical treatment with text messages and phone calls.
Jaclyn's inspirational story was also able to help the team perform at its highest level on the field.
Denis wants more teams to follow the lead of programs like Northwestern and UMass and adopt children to their sidelines. While speaking to the field hockey team, he said that 3,410 children are diagnosed with brain tumors each year, and the survival rate stands at 65 percent. The goal of Friends of Jaclyn is to raise money for brain tumor research that will "improve the quality of life."
UMass will have the distinction of becoming the first school to have two players come to games and be taken in as a younger sister. The women's lacrosse team adopted brain tumor patient Lexie Williams during last year's season.
Denis is impressed and proud that UMass has become the first school to take the initiative and call him about adopting a child with a brain tumor.
His daughter's sickness has handed Denis challenges, and he's developed a different outlook in the process.
"It gives you a whole new perspective on life," he said. "What's important and what's trivial."
It didn't take long for Marissa to fit in with the field hockey team. After the introductions and informational talk were finished, the 11-year-old was posing for pictures with the team, including one of her sitting in a player's lap.
Dostal said the team's addition of Marissa helps people who are lucky enough to have full health appreciate the life they have.
"We complain on a daily basis about class and not being able to sleep late," she said. "This is a really nice perspective check."
While the Minutewomen's level of team success on the playing field this season still very much lies in the balance, there will be one victory that overshadows the rest.
Mike Connors can be reached at mjconnor@student.umass.edu