Week V 2021 – As Dick Vitale battles cancer, his legacy shines brightly in the next generation of cancer warriors he helped inspire

ESPN and the V Foundation are committed to fighting cancer. Week V 2021 is from November 30 to December 30. 12. If you can, support cancer research by visiting V.org/donate.

Art Kyers will never forget the day he found out his son Coleton had cancer.

Coleton Kyers was diagnosed with Ewing’s sarcoma, a type of tumor that forms on bone or tissue. At the hospital, shortly after hearing his son’s diagnosis, Art Kyers received a phone call.

“An absolute low in our lives and he wakes you up,” Kyers said. “He said, ‘This is Dick Vitale. We’re here to help.'”

Dick Vitale is synonymous with college basketball.

He’s been with ESPN since 1979, the year the network launched. He was the original PTPer, calling ESPN’s first college basketball broadcast.

But as long as Vitale has been a part of college basketball on TV, he’s been involved in the fight against cancer. He helped Jim Valvano get to the ESPYS stage, where Valvano delivered his iconic “Don’t Give Up” Speech.

Vitale was there when he founded the V Foundation.

In addition to campaigning and lending her name and celebrity to the cause of cancer research, Vitale has made personal connections with cancer patients and their families, and helped them cope. begin with cancer and grow into life after it.

“The hope he brings to the unknown, it lifts your spirits and gives you hope,” says Kyers.

“Prayers and dollars,” said Vince Grande, whose son Enzo was diagnosed with leukemia at the age of three and a half. “That’s what we ask of cancer patients, to continue research. Dick brought us into his home. … It’s not just about cancer, it’s about cancer. life.”

In October, Vitale announced he had been diagnosed with lymphoma and would face six months of chemotherapy. He knows what that means.

“I have seen firsthand the devastation that cancer can have on our families, children and all of our loved ones,” Vitale said. said in a statement. “It can bring you to your knees. It exhausts you both physically and mentally. It takes so many things from you, including the very lives of some of the most unfortunate patients. I never let it. lost that, and that’s why I feel so lucky.”

College season has arrived and #VSTRONGBÉ, a hashtag to show your support for @DickieV as his battle against cancer continues.

We are here for you, Dickie V ❤️ pic.twitter.com/advesGMoQ6

– ESPN (@espn) November 10, 2021

Vitale is known as much as the university and because of his philanthropic work, his impact is almost clearly felt by the people he has helped and the work of the V Foundation: Children and their families, who have faced the horror of childhood cancer and are now living life after cancer have been inspired by Vitale’s work. As such, they are becoming the next generation of cancer warriors.

“Some kids want to be rock stars, want to be athletes,” says Elain Grande. “My son wants to be Dick Vitale.”

Enzo Grande faced four years of chemotherapy, 18 spinal taps, 20 blood transfusions and a liver disorder before being declared cancer-free.

COVID-19 and cancer hit at the same time for Mikari Tarpley. She was diagnosed with Hodgkin’s Lymphoma in March 2020, shortly before turning 16. As an actress and Broadway performer, Tarpley attended a performing arts high school in Smyrna, Georgia, but her treatment during a pandemic has kept her away from her friends. She found support from fellow cancer patients.

“Cancer is terrible and needs to be eradicated,” says Tarpley.

“[The treatment] it’s hard. It’s too bad. But everyone’s support makes this ten times better. Even though I’m sick and tired all the time, it’s not that bad of a feeling. Something about support surrounding you and feeling all that love… [the treatment] not that bad. “

When both Grande and Tarpley were in treatment, they knew they wanted to find ways to help cancer patients, especially children.

Grande, who is 13 years old and cancer-free, said: “It’s tough going through cancer. You don’t want to see a child suffer… I don’t want anyone to go through it. that”. “I’ve been through it. I know how kids feel. It’s important to think about what children go through when they’re young.”

To help others, Grande, who lives in St. Augustine, Florida, started Enzo’s War on Cancer. He loves professional wrestling, so he borrowed the WWE name. He made donations and toys to deliver to patients in a children’s hospital in Florida.

Tarpley knew she was going to miss her 16th birthday party due to her treatment schedule. Instead of throwing a party and gifts, she asked for donations to the Pediatric Cancer and Blood Disorders Center at Children’s Health Atlanta. She wants to help patients with cancer and sickle cell anemia. Then they meet Vitale.

Family friends connected the Grande and K’s family with Vitale. Tarpley wrote him a letter. With their own stories of how they grew and the compassion they have for other cancer patients, they joined a larger community there to fight cancer with them. Each of them and their families participated in the V Foundation and Vitale’s annual gala.

Since 2006, Vitale’s gala has raised more than $44 million for pediatric cancer research and the V Foundation. Before the pandemic, it regularly attracted nearly 1,000 guests from the worlds of sports and the world. cancer survivors like Tarpley, Grande and Kyers.

“When I see so many sports players and coaches supporting [cancer research at the gala]”I was delighted,” said K Attorney, who is now 17 years old and a year since his cancer was declared in remission. “I’m speechless. It’s an important opportunity to see all the people in this huge hall there to support.”

“These people really want to help with cancer research,” Grande said. “And then I was really, like, I want to do it. … I want to be like Dick Vitale when I’m older. I want to continue his legacy.”

Grande thought playing sports in the future might not be for him, so he wanted to be a broadcaster like Vitale and wanted Vitale to beat cancer like he did. But it is also Vitale’s legacy with the V Foundation and as a champion for overcoming cancer that has left its mark.

Emotions reverberate from Grande, Tarpley, and K in charge of the influence Vitale and his work have had on their lives: inspiration. Cancer has touched their lives and like Vitale and Valvano before him, they have chosen to use their time to help others.

“I could continue to do this work for the rest of my life,” says Tarpley. “It’s part of me now and I want to keep doing it.”