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This is probably the longest post I've placed here in the forums.  I implore you to please read it all the way through. 

I wanted to submit something a little different tonight instead of adding this to the regular Prayer List.    I know many people who are not doing well and quite a few that have friends that are going through challenges.  Today, I was not feeling well and then I saw a story about a little fighter that I had only first heard of today.  A great human being that left us way too early. 

I ask that you take a moment to read about this young man's life and keep him in your prayers.  Also, and most importantly, remember his spirit of giving and trying to bring holiday cheer to others.  This is what the holiday season and Christmas Spirit should be about:



'He wanted to help the other children': Toy drive just one way teen


Chicago Sun-Times, Dec 13, 2005 by Roman Modrowski

Mark Staehely is an aspiring author who's preparing to submit his first work for publication. It's a collection of poems and prayers dedicated to the patients in the stem cell unit in Children's Memorial Hospital. He hopes the book raises money for cancer research.

Staehely's a dynamic fund-raiser whose annual toy drive is the largest in Children's history, providing Christmas gifts and toys throughout the year for children at the hospital. Staehely will be handing out this year's Christmas gifts on Wednesday.

The avid White Sox fan also co-founded "SOCS" -- the "Staehely- O'Malley Cancer Survivor" foundation -- with Julia O'Malley Stepenske, who once was a cancer patient at Children's and now works as a registered nurse in the stem cell unit.
For his tireless charitable and inspirational work, Children's Memorial awarded Staehely its prestigious George D. Kennedy Distinguished Leadership Award at its most recent board of directors meeting. Staehely's mantle also includes an American Red Cross Hometown Heroes award.

Staehely shrugs off the recognition, insisting it should be given to more deserving recipients. He just wants to brighten the days of sick children because he can empathize with them.

FIELDS OF DREAMS

Staehely turned 18 last Wednesday, and one of his celebrations was on the fourth floor in Children's, in the stem cell unit. He was lying in his bed, celebrating with the nurses and doctors who have become his second family since he arrived at the hospital five years ago, as a 12 year old, to begin treatment for neuroblastoma, a particularly devastating cancer that affects emotional and physical development and usually strikes down children before they reach Staehely's age.
He's most frustrated by how weak his legs have grown, and by the fact his parents, Sue and Ray Staehely, and his brother Michael have to push him in a wheelchair. For the moment, Staehely's unable to dance. "And I'm a good dancer," he said.

His dancing has a purpose.

"Mark saw a patient looking particularly sad one day, and he walked into the room and said, 'I hear your white counts are low today,' " hospital spokeswoman Kathleen Keenan said. "All of a sudden, Mark says, 'OK, hit it.' And the kids break into song.

"It's called 'The White Cell Dance,' and they sing this song and dance to get the count up. He starts wiggling his hips and off they go."

This year has proven to be perhaps the most difficult for Mark, who spent almost all of November in Children's. Now his parents drive him an hour each way from their home in Shorewood -- about 50 miles south of Chicago -- twice a week.
But whatever suffering Mark experienced in 2005, the year's most lasting impression still puts a gleam in his eye. His team won the World Series, and Mark and his family were guests of the White Sox for Game 1.

"It was unbelievable," Mark said. "It was so cool.

"I loved how big [of an event] it was."

Sox community relations director Christine O'Reilly enabled Mark and his family to attend about 10 games last season.

"It's like they adopted him," Sue said. "They've been angels to us."

The White Sox player most receptive to Mark was Carl Everett. But he wasn't the only one to contact Mark.

"When Mark was in the hospital [two weeks ago], the phone rang, Mark picked it up and it was Ozzie Guillen," Sue said. "He called to tell Mark to hang in there and be tough.
"Ozzie said, 'I love you man,' three times. People have no idea how much that can mean to a kid."

But as much as Mark loves the Sox, there is a sports figure who has become more than an acquaintance. While he was the head coach of the Bears, Dick Jauron and his wife would visit the patients at Children's on Saturday mornings. During one visit, Jauron, who is now the interim head coach of the Detroit Lions, met Mark.

"To this day, hardly a week goes by when Dick doesn't call," Sue said. "In June, when the American Red Cross gave him the award, Dick flew in from Detroit to come to breakfast with Mark.

"Dick had Mark come out to Bears camp in Bourbonnais one summer. We ate dinner with him and the players. I'll never forget it. It was one of Rex Grossman's first days, and he came out and talked to Mark, and Brian Urlacher signed his jersey and David Terrell gave him his gloves. But Dick has been like a part of our family. He is a wonderful man."

'Like a little angel'

It takes a lot to surprise Dr. Morris Kletzel, who is the head of Children's oncology program. He considers Mark extraordinary because children who have recurring neuroblastoma do not have a high survival rate.

"He's very unique, because I thought we were going to lose him five years ago," Kletzel said. "And here he is, five years later, kicking and screaming, as you can see.

"His personality is unique. He's always thinking of giving to others. And he's very loving with his family. I remember after one of the multiple times when we basically told him he was going to die because there was nothing more we can do, he turned to his mother and said, 'Don't worry about it, I'm happy.' He was more concerned about his mom and dad."

Mark's concern for the other kids may be one secret to his survival.

"It gives him a purpose in life," O'Malley Stepenske said. "He always has something to reach for. For a while, it was his 18th birthday, then the toy drive. It's the little things that he gets excited for when he wakes up every day. Helping other kids has given him something to live for."

O'Malley Stepenske has seen the work firsthand.

"I'll never forget him last year coming in with a pain pump tied to him, and he was dressed in a Santa outfit," she said. "He was delivering the toys he worked so hard to collect.

"He wanted to help the other children who may not have had any toys. It almost has to be a firsthand experience to see him interact with a little child, to see how much it means to the child and to Mark. He's like a little angel. He knows how awful it is to be here for the holidays, so he makes sure they know they're not forgotten."

When Mark first told his mother about his wish to collect toys, Sue and her friends collected about 100 and delivered them to Children's. The amount reached 1,000 the next year and 3,000 in 2003. The volunteer fire department in Shorewood got involved and helped collect 7,000 toys last year. This year's goal was 10,000, and it's going to be exceeded.

'IT SEEMS I'M ALWAYS IN PAIN'

"I feel bad for the kids here, because they don't really know what they're going through, and I do," Mark said. "I do this to try to brighten their day."

Mark admits it's sometimes hard to keep his own spirits up.

"It seems I'm always in pain and always taking medicine and always tired," he said.


He has developed a nightly routine that helps.
"I pray for my friends up here every night," he said. "I write poems, and it helps me to get my thoughts out.

"I have a book. I'm trying to get enough prayers to get it published. Then I'll give the money to my foundation. I think we need more money for research, and for long-term survivors, like I can be. I will be."

To contribute to SOCS, go to www.socsfoundation.org.

___________________________________________





Young man with 'huge spirit' dies at 18

By Kris Stadalsky
SPECIAL TO THE HERALD NEWS

SHOREWOOD — Mark Staehely, known by many as a young man with a huge heart, died Tuesday at his home at the age of 18.

Staehely had battled a rare childhood cancer, neuroblastoma, since he was 12. He had made it his life's work to bring joy to hundreds of children suffering from cancers and other illnesses.

He died at his home in Shorewood March 7, 2006 at 1:23 p.m. surrounded by his family and friends.

Last Thursday a CT scan revealed new tumors that were growing quickly, said his mom, Sue Staehely.

Mark had many ups and downs over the past six years and the family was certain he would bounce back, Sue said.

"We assumed it would be another episode and he would pull through," she said.

By Friday he was in a lot of pain. He had been under the care of Joliet Area Community Hospice, where he also worked for some time. Hospice nurses were able to get his pain under control.

"His little body couldn't take it any more," Sue said.

"Not that he was a quitter — he never wanted to be known as a quitter. He went peacefully."
In the past six years, he underwent removal of his adrenal gland, three stem cell transplants, radiation treatments and many rounds of chemotherapy. He had an experimental therapy when the cancer returned and nothing else had worked. Last winter he contracted a blood infection and another tumor was found on his spine.

"People don't understand that this kid never got a break for six years. He was always sick," Sue said.

Through it all, Staehely continued to work on his many charities. For the past several years, he collected toys and passed them out in his famous Santa hat to all the patients at Children's Memorial Hospital in Chicago. Each year his toy drive grew, and last Christmas he reached his goal of distributing 10,000 toys.

He involved many communities and organizations in his quest.

Even when he fell ill in September, the toy drive went on. He made his mom promise every year that the toy drive would continue no matter what happened to him.

Besides his toy drive, Mark, his mother, and one of his nurses, Julie O'Malley Stepenski, created the Staehely-O'Malley Cancer Survivor Foundation, which raises funds for the program Survivors Taking Action and Responsibility, or STAR, at Children's Memorial. STAR addresses the needs and long-term care of pediatric cancer survivors.

Staehely also created a treasure chest program for children in the oncology ward. Small toys like coloring books, hand-held games and puzzles are given out to keep them busy when they are facing painful or uncomfortable tests and treatments.

"Mark was a very special person. He had an amazing connection with everyone he met," said Courtney Schwartz, a nurse who cared for Staehely from the start of his illness. "His vision for his time here was to do as much as he could for kids with cancer, through the toy drive, the foundation, the treasure chest, however that may be."

Last fall Staehely was awarded the George D. Kennedy Distinguished Leadership Award at Children's. It is the highest honor given for humanitarian works.

He accepted the award in a wheelchair and received a standing ovation from Children's Memorial board members, area CEOs and other supporters of Children's, Sue said.

Hospital spokesman Kathleen Keenan said Staehely had such an impact on all the children, their families and the staff.

"Whoever was there, he would just say 'hit it' and go into this dance called the white count dance," Keenan said. "He would shake his little butt. The kids firmly believed, and so did he, that it would really bring his count up. He was an ordinary child who did the extraordinary. He made everyone's life a little bit easier just by how he touched their lives."

"We are going to miss him every second, every hour, every week of every year," Sue said. "But I have to believe he's playing ball and running around with other kids from Children's Memorial. He had a huge spirit and a huge heart."

Mark was a Cadet at the Troy Fire Protection District for the past two years.

Visit this link to see how his Mom is continuing his tradition: http://cbs2chicago.com/local/mark.staeh … 09665.html



Dream Big (for Mark Staehely) by Mike Paluzzi