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Friends of Devon have cut their hair short as a show of camaraderie. Gathering together in the WGHS main office Tuesday for a photo were, from left, Taylor Gates, Ryan Rondinaro, Will Simiele, Connor Fazzary, Brady Myers, Alex Coxson, Devon Shaw, Jesse Teeter, Josh Teeter, Clayton Beaumont, Kody Gregory and Bryson Clarkson.

'A lot of people want to help'

WGHS freshman Devon Shaw battling cancer, faces surgery; planning starts for a fund-raiser

(Note on May 10: The following was written on April 7. Since then, planning has taken shape for Devon's Day, a fund-raiser at Seneca Harbor Station Restaurant in Watkins Glen on Sunday, May 16 from 4-9 p.m. The day will include food, music, door prizes, a silent auction and a teen cruise.)

For a list of items donated for Devon's Day, click here.

WATKINS GLEN, April 7 -- Planning is under way to stage a benefit for Devon Shaw, a Watkins Glen High School freshman who has been stricken with cancer.

Devon, who turned 15 Tuesday (April 6), is the son of Diana Crane (who is assistant to WGHS Athletic Director Denise Wickham) and Scott Shaw. His stepfather is Jim Crane. Devon has two sisters -- Alicia, 23, and Kendra, a junior at WGHS.

Both sisters have cut their hair short and donated their shorn locks to Locks of Love in honor of their brother. Devon has gone a step farther, shaving his head -- a move echoed by several school friends who have shaved theirs.

The cancer -- as it too often does -- appeared unexpectedly and seemingly out of nowhere. It was discovered in Devon's right leg, a leg that had served him well in varsity and travel-league soccer.

A man who has coached him in soccer across the years, Mark Stephany of Watkins Glen, is organizing the benefit. A time and place for it are yet to be determined, although a brainstorming session is set for Thursday at 7 p.m. at the Watkins Elks Club.

Surgery on the leg is scheduled in early June at the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia. Devon will lose part of the cancer-ridden femur, as well as have a knee replacement.

But first, there is chemotherapy.

"I always told myself I would never put that poison into my body," said his mother, Diana. "Now here I am, letting them put it into my son's."

But she realizes, too, that it is different with a loved one than with oneself -- and that this aggressive cancer in Devon's body must be battled head-on.

And that is even truer now, since doctors discovered that the cancer has metastasized -- has spread to a lung.

"But let me start at the beginning," his mother said, and she told the story. In essence, it goes like this:

Devon sustained a leg injury in soccer, and "minor things in gym and whatnot," she said, but nobody thought much about it until "we noticed that the right leg seemed larger than the other" -- as though the muscle were more advanced, and just not quite right.

And so "we tried to get into see Dr. (Matthew) Brand" -- a locally renowned orthopedic surgeon in Elmira -- "but had to wait a couple of months." When they did see the doctor, he wasn't initially certain of the cause of the leg condition, but didn't rule out cancer. He set up an appointment with an oncologist, and an MRI soon followed.

And the diagnosis was an osteosarcoma -- an aggressive cancer in the bone, in the right femur.

Surgery was planned, along with chemo, but then a PET Scan discovered the metastasization: three spots found in the right lung. And thus the issue became more complicated, and more frightening.

"I can't believe this is happening," said Diana. "It's crazy. I wish I could take that chemo that they're putting in his body. I wish I could take my leg and give it to him. It's hard. We're so close as a family. It's just killing me. It's just killing me."

Devon underwent two treatments of chemotherapy at the Children's Hospital of Rochester, which consisted, in essence, of a 48-hour drip that left its expected effect: illness afterward. He missed school for one week, and dropped eight pounds, his already light weight dropping to 98 pounds.

"That was frightening," said Diana. "But he gained it all back. And the right leg isn't as large as it was. So that must mean something good, right?"

With the exception of that one week, Devon has managed to attend classes through most of this. But with the next round of chemo starting -- 24-hour drips on April 7, 14 and 21 -- he could be in the Rochester hospital for three weeks.

"He has to stay in this time until the chemo clears from his system," said Diana. "So that might run right into the second treatment, and the third."

The surgery on the leg is still set for early June, "if there aren't any setbacks with infections," Diana said. "I'm not sure when the surgery on the lung will be." Overall, Devon will probably be undergoing chemo treatments "until November or December."

The illness "has been very intense for him," said Diana. "This is a very aggressive cancer, and they're meeting it aggressively. They want to kill it."

Alleviating the stress are Devon's friends, she said. After he shaved his head in anticipation of the effects of the first chemo treatments, his friends followed suit. And students in the school have been talking about a benefit dinner, "although it might be wrapped into whatever Mark Stephany is planning."

Stephany's planning session Thursday at the Elks Club was a welcome development, Diana said, but it comes at a time when Devon can't attend.

That's Thursday, April 8, the day after the next round of chemo begins. But there's likely to be plenty of folks there thinking of him.

"A lot of people want to help Devon," Diana said.

Among them are teachers. WGHS Principal Dave Warren said an e-mail seeking donations drew more than $800 from members of the faculty, and he said he understood that other district employees were pitching in, too.

"Devon is just a good kid," said Warren. "And he's had an upbeat attitude through all of this. He just keeps plugging away, kind of like he does on the soccer field. He's still smiling."

Stephany said he has coached Devon "since he was 9 or 10," on travel teams and then last year on the WGHS varsity.

"He made it to the varsity as a freshman," Stephany told The Odessa File. "I wish he could have had more playing time, but he made the most of what he did get. I remember one game, his first time in, he scored a goal in something like 40 seconds. You carried a picture of that" -- of Devon leaping into a teammate's arms, the arms of Stephany's son Austin.

"I smiled when I saw that," Stephany added.

He said he hopes that people attending Thursday's meeting come armed with ideas. "I have some, but I don't want to preempt any." Among his thoughts are a benefit dinner, some music, a silent auction and a raffle -- with maybe two events instead of one, with both on the same weekend.

He and Warren speculated that while the Cranes have health insurance, there are still medical costs beyond that, plus travel, food and lodging expenses that can become burdensome over a long period of treatment. Thus the need for the benefit.

"He's a wonderful kid," said Stephany. "He's quick, and he has really good ball skills. He lives and breathes soccer. He does well in school, too. He played some basketball when he was younger, but then devoted himself to soccer.

"And now ... now he's confronting a big challenge."

As for Thursday's meeting, Stephany envisions "a lot of ideas. We've got to give people an opportunity to do the most that they can do."

Photos in text:

Top: Devon Shaw, left, is congratulated by teammate Austin Stephany after scoring a goal for the WGHS varsity in a soccer game against Odessa-Montour in the fall.

Second: School administrator Billie Bauman plants a kiss on Devon's forehead after encountering him in school on Tuesday, April 6, Devon's 15th birthday.

Third: and fourth: Devon sends his goal-producing kick against O-M on its way to the net, and then motions toward a teammate afterward.

Fifth: Devon Shaw on his 15th birthday, Tuesday, April 6th. He said he will be able to play sports in the future that don't require running, and plans to help the WGHS soccer team from the sidelines. He's expressed an interest in coaching the sport. He says he can walk, but is using crutches to protect his right leg from further harm.

Devon Shaw, left, races a Spencer-Van Etten player to the ball as it approaches the S-VE net in a game last fall. Devon scored a moment later.

 

 

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