What motivated you to
become a dancer?
Basically, the passing of my grandfather motivated me. He
died of throat cancer. I saw his pain and suffering, and he was on an incubator
that kept him alive.
That hit me, and that’s how cancer began to play a role in
my life. I can’t imagine a child going through that same thing.
After that, THON started popping up in the back of mind a lot.
Someone had told me that being a dancer was so much more than just being there.
I felt like I was really part of something, and the support of every dancer,
child and New Kensington in the stands really passed my expectations.
There is a
lot of anticipation leading up to the finale. What was it like walking through
the human tunnel and onto the BJC?
The human tunnel kept going, and I didn’t expect there to be
so many people.
You felt kind of crammed and people were high-fiving you on
each side. It was nice to see my moraler there and to give her a hug. There
were little kids there, too. Then, when you finally get into the BJC, the
stands were packed. Seeing the student section in the front row was great.
I saw my girlfriend with her committee, too. That was definitely
an incredible experience.
Elaine Tanella takes
the stage and talks a little about herself and THON. Then, she starts a
countdown for dancers to stand. What’s it like to finally stand?
Up until that point I had been standing. I was on my feet,
and I thought I should sit. I also woke up at 7 a.m., so I had been
awake for a lot longer than 46 hours. When she started counting down, I said, ‘This
is it.’ Then everyone stood.
I’m getting a rush just replaying it through my mind.
You just start dancing, and you don’t worry about a thing. Once
she started counting down it was like celebrating New Years.
Every dancer goes
through some challenges be it a headache, sore feet, dehydration or general
tiredness. How were you able to push through those challenges?
It was all the moralers and New Kensington that helped me. When
my personal moraler wasn’t there, the other moralers helped me.
Them, Nicki Thoma, Lauren Richards, Lauren Blum and everyone
else really made a difference and really, really helped me. It’s like they knew
what to say. Erin Prager always told us to keep moving our feet if we were
standing still.
My body felt great. It was more that I’d never stayed up
that long. I’ve never done an all nighter. Being tired took a tool on me.
What’s your favorite
moment with a child from that weekend?
When we were with little Amanda, Erin had her on her
shoulders.
She was on there for 20 minutes, and then Kelsie held her. Then,
she came running up to me, and we started dancing.
Her mom was like, ‘Oh, he’s a dancer. Let’s give him a
break.’
I asked her if she
wanted to get down, and she squeezed tighter.
She reminded me of my two little cousins around her age that
my uncle ended up fostering, because they’d been abused. It reminded me of them
a lot, and Amanda was so sweet. Around that time, I was awake and wasn’t
hurting, and I just remember her holding on to me.
What do you remember
around the time that you fainted?
I blacked out. One of the last things I remember is I had
just come back inside the BJC. I was outside getting fresh air, and a moraler
was throwing water on my face. It was already cold out there, but the water was
freezing. I was still cold inside, so I put on a hoodie.
The student section really helped me around that time, and I
remember them getting me going. Then, Go Go Gadget was on, and “We Found Love”
started playing.
I thought, ‘I love this song.’
I took off the hoodie
and thought, ‘If I end up dying, I want to do it with a bang.’
So, I just kind of lost it and danced. I fed off the student
section. Then, I sort of hit that final wall. The last thing I sort of remember
was being very cold. Tansey Ochs was rubbing ice on me. Then, I remember lights
in the hallway.
In the ambulance I was answering questions, but I was going
in and out.
A lot of people were trying to help me. Kelsie Nury, I
guess, was screaming in my face to try to get me going, again. She knew how close
we were. I just wasn’t responding to EMTs.
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