On October 28, 2006 an Albright student, Derek Kehoe passed away from a rare cancer type called leiomyosarcoma (LMS). Leiomyosarcoma is a cancerous tumor of the smooth muscle cells. It is a soft tissue sarcoma, which are cancers that attack soft tissues for example fat and muscle cells. The body has two types of muscles: voluntary and involuntary. Voluntary muscles are the muscles that control the intentional physical activities of the body for example the biceps, abdominal and pectoral muscles. On the other hand, smooth muscle cells are involuntary muscles meaning we have no control over them. These muscles are throughout the whole body and can be typically found in the blood vessels, uterus, stomach, intestines, and skin.
Derek was only a sophomore when he passed away yet many people across the college knew him very well. Coming in as a freshman Derek wasted no time getting involved. He played point guard on the varsity basketball team, was involved as a counselor for the summer start program, a student employee for the Office of Community Standards and served as a member of the Public Safety Advisory Committee. Senior, Matt Bazsika, Derek’s freshman roommate and teammate describes Derek as, “A really energetic and kind guy who you would want to have as a best friend. Everyone who knew Derek loved him like a brother.”
As Matt said, many students were touched by Derek Kehoe. The students who knew him wanted to give back to Derek by raising money for his fund which was started by his parents in remembrance of him. To raise money Senior, Kyle Meyer and many other students decided to take Keg Crawl which has been an annual event for the past seven years and make it a fundraiser for Derek’s fund. For the past two years students have been participating in Keg Crawl whether they knew Derek or not to raise money.
Although this event raises money for a good cause it also raises a lot of controversy with Albright. Being that Keg Crawl is not an Albright sponsored event, the faculty and administration have many concerns. Vice President for Student Affairs and Dean of Students, Gina-Lyn Crance expressed, “We are concerned about underage drinking, students being unsafe or getting hurt, inappropriate behavior in the community (reports have been made that students urinate, defecate and vomit in public), sale of alcohol to minors---mostly though, it is concern about the dangers associated with excessive drinking and illegal behavior.”
Students understand why Albright’s administration might be worried however some students wish they would be more supportive. Senior, Maria Disla stated, “I can see why the school would not want their name attached to an event with the title Keg Crawl, obviously that would not look good on their part, but I think there is a way for everyone to come together to help make this a huge philanthropic event. I suggest having an event that allows all students to get involved maybe having a 5K race and bringing in support from the whole community.”
When asked if the school would ever consider participating in some type of fundraiser event for Derek Kehoe Dean Crance stated, “There are a lot of options and it could certainly be a discussion topic.”
While Keg Crawl brings about many discussion topics, overall the money is supporting an Albright student who passed away and was loved by many. This year alone Senior Kyle Meyer proudly announced that, “We raised $1,100 this year and $800 last year which I think it pretty awesome.”
Statistics for Soft Tissue Sarcoma and Leiomyosarcoma
-Soft tissue sarcomas account for approximately one percent (approximately 8,100) of new cancer cases each year in the United States.
-Approximately ten percent of the total new cases of soft tissuesarcomas occur in children and teenagers.
-About fifty percent of all soft tissue sarcomas occur in the smooth muscle cells of the body's extremities including arms, nipples, legs, hands and feet.
-About forty percent occur in the chest, back, hips, shoulders, gastrointestinal tract and abdomen.
-Only ten percent occur in the head and neck.
-Leiomyosarcoma accounts for around fifteen percent of cases of soft tissue sarcoma cases.
-Leiomyosarcoma affects mainly adults with an average age ofaround sixty years.
*Statistics taken from http://www.leiomyosarcomacancer.com/articles/leiomyosarcoma/index.php
* Link to the Albrightian issue http://www.albright.edu/albrightian/archives/11_02_2006.pdf
*Some of the pictures used are courtesy of photos taken by Dr. John Pankratz and song is courtesy of Billy Joel
*Note I tried to get information from Security but they did not get back in time
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