Sports

Students, community take the lead

Hundreds come together to raise support for Guinn family

By Katie Kane MS ’08

WIU and the Macomb proudly came together in May to show support for the family of Shaymus GuinnShaymus Guinn, son of Western Illinois women’s soccer coach Tony Guinn, with a fundraiser that brought hundreds to Hanson Field.

Members of the cross country and track and field teams organized The Shaymus Relays, consisting of track and field activities for first through sixth graders and for WIU students. The event raised $10,590 to date; 100 percent of the proceeds went directly to the Guinn family.

Shaymus, 8, was diagnosed with Ewing’s Sarcoma, a rare form of bone cancer, in November 2008. He continues to fight through chemotherapy treatments and will undergo a month-long hospital stay in July followed by radiation.

Teamwork on and off the field
The idea for the event was sparked when members of the cross country and track and field teams visited Shaymus in the hospital in Iowa on their way to a meet.

Despite both teams being in-season, student athletes from the men’s team took time to organize the event and gather support from members from other sports. A student-designed logo was placed on hundreds of T-shirts, which were sold for $10 each. With decorated milk jugs, 30 students spread out over campus for 90 minutes, going door-to-door in search of money anyone was willing to give, and returned with $2,200.

Tony Guinn, who teaches in Western’s kinesiology department in addition to coaching, was touched by the students’ commitment.

“I am reminded that there are and will always be great young people in this world who want to be involved and help,” he said. “Three students who had never even met me decided to take it upon themselves during their season and in school full-time, to take time for a family that they don’t even know. That is a great, unselfish way to look at the world.”

Hurdles ahead
When he started treatment, Shaymus had 12 different locations of cancer, called hot spots. But in May, the Guinn family received the results of a scan showing that the main site of the cancer, in Shaymus’s right knee—which had originally been the size of a baseball—is the size of a quarter, and 11 of the 12 “hot spots” no longer show up.

“We just cried when we got the news,” said Tony Guinn. “Shaymus gave the group of doctors high fives. I feel like we ran about the ninth mile in a marathon. We still have quite a ways to go, but it’s good news.”

Photo: Shaymus Guinn

Shaymus Relays photo

The event included track and field activities for kids first through sixth grade.

 

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