Monday, June 05, 2006

Casey's fight

The battle of Casey Coleman is something every sports fan in Cleveland should know about, because he's one of our own.
For eight months now, Coleman has been fighting pancreatic cancer. He appeared to be winning the fight until he went to the doctor Friday, The Plain Dealer reported today. That's when he received the crushing news that the cancer had spread to his liver in the form of several inoperable tumors.
Doctors have given him between three and nine months to live. Coleman, however, appears upbeat about the situation, joking with other media members prior to Sunday night's Indians game.
After having two of my grandparents claimed by cancer in my lifetime, and watching Cleveland sportscasting legend Nev Chandler also lose his fight with the disease at a sickeningly young age, this news is terribly tragic to me.
Coleman's face on the television is one of my earliest memories of Cleveland sports. As a child, my family would eat dinner and watch the evening news, and I'd wait for Coleman to end every sportscast with "we're rounding third, and heading home."
Coleman's battle has been covered by the local media because he's a public figure. But, if anything, his fight against cancer should shed light on the thousands who suffer with the disease in silence. Pray for Coleman, but also pray for them.
One man's story is touching an entire city right now, but cancer touches just about every family in some way, shape or form.

1 comment:

Zach said...

I was hard on Casey when he was the Browns' announcer, but his battle shows just how strong and courageous he really is. My grandmother loved him, and he really is an icon, just as much as his father.
He will be in my prayers.