Shelby Cassesse tells the story of Parker Brown, a senior at West Allegheny, who continues to fight through a cancer diagnosis, and plans to help others in their fight following graduation.
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West A senior continues to inspire through cancer fight
When we last spoke with Parker Brown and his parents in October, their calendar was full of doctors appointments and treatment.
Parker, a senior at West Allegheny, had just been diagnosed with t-cell lymphoma/leukemia. These days, the calendar is looking a lot different in the Brown household, packed with baseball games and graduation celebrations, while treatments are penciled in far less.
Parker is now in the maintenance phase, a key milestone in his treatment. One that Parker's mother Robyn says couldn't come soon enough.
"The last two months, it seemed to drag," she said. "[Parker's father Dave] and I always said how long it felt like it was taking. It was just day by day by day. We knew that finish line was there."
July will mark one year since Parker's diagnosis, the whole process a difficult and trying journey for the whole family, but Parker says it was the last step before the maintenance phase that hit him hardest. It was an extremely aggressive form of treatment. A necessary path, but the most physically taxing.
"I could barely eat, so I was always out of energy," Parker said. "Never could go out. I got sick, I had a cold and that knocked me out for two weeks, as well."
At the same time, baseball season at West A was starting up. Though there were many days where getting off the couch was hard enough for Parker, he did his best to show up for his teammates, and for himself.
"I feel like I had an obligation to be there for them, for their season, because they were there for me," he said. "That was obviously a must need for me. It was also an escape from everything going on."
On May 5, Parker spent the morning in his final round of intense chemo and that evening ending the treatment and his senior baseball season on his own terms.
It was senior night, and Parker stepped up to the plate for the second time that season.
The result? A base hit. Parker strutted down to first with a smile on his face.
“All of my teammates were out there,” he said. “They were out of the dugout, clapping. That definitely was heartwarming, knowing they had been by my side, and them seeing me win the fight.”
“To watch him get that hit, and see the smile on his face, and people’s reactions – even the other team – it was incredible,” Robyn added.
And that's not the end of the story for West Allegheny. They'll play Peters Township in the WPIAL 5A final on Wednesday.
“It’s really nice for them to have this moment, and for me to be there, as well, and actually be available to be used, is just as great,” Parker said.
Parker said he's soaking these moments up before the big next steps. He'll walk onto the baseball team at Allegheny College, and is setting his sights on making a big impact down the road.
“I’m just really excited for the next four years,” he said. “I plan on majoring in biochemistry to help work in a laboratory and eventually maybe find the cure for cancer and help others in my situation.”
And, for the Brown family, the community-wide effort to support them and Parker through the most trying time, will always be front of mind.
“It’s made us want to give back, as well,” Robyn said. “Even more than we have, in support of our communities.”
“Even now, when I walk into school, there’s people wearing my (fundraising) shirts,” Parker added. “When I walk to baseball practice, they’re wearing my shirts. It’s more of just a reminder of how they pushed me through the worst months of my life, and that where I’m at now is about 75 percent back.”