“Changes are what makes life
interesting. Overcoming them is what makes life meaningful” –
stated by Eddie Nogay, a New York high school volleyball player who played with
one arm
Greetings! Everyone in life has a
checklist of some sorts starting with their teenage years. Most would look
something like this …
ü Play sports during
high school. Check!
ü Help my high school team
reach the playoffs. Check!
ü Attend High School
Senior Prom. Check!
ü Celebrate 18th
Birthday with friends. Check!
For this week’s subject matter, the story ends right there but
in many ways, it truly just begins! I am hoping that this story will inspire
those of you that felt disappointment from last week’s Major League Baseball
Draft or for some of you feeling dejected because of a lost season due to
injuries or maybe from a feeling that you simply lacked progress with your
on-field development?
Meet Eddie Nogay. He was just 18-years-old and lived to exceed this age by all of just one minute. Seriously!! This young man was considered one of the best volleyball players in the New York City public schools who gained national attention in 2013 when he began competing in games with only his left arm. His (dominant) right arm had to be amputated below the shoulder after a Sarcoma (which is a malignant tumor made of cancerous bone, cartilage, fat, muscle, vascular hematopoietic tissues) was found to be forming in his right elbow during the fall of 2012, but he refused to stop competing in volleyball and eventually helped spark his teammates to reach the playoff quarterfinals this past year.
If
there ever was an athlete who deserved the label of a “hero” or a “fighter” it
was Eddie Nogay. He was not a
professional athlete. He received no signing bonus. He was an everyday student who
filled his days by competing in sports. But things started to spiral for the
worse for him when the calendar year turned 2013. One of Eddie’s lungs
collapsed in January, a condition that would need two surgeries to correct. Yet,
he still managed to suit up with his teammates and play despite his missing one
of his limbs.
In
early April, Nogay’s cancer-stricken lungs collapsed for the second time in
four months. Still, after having surgery, all he could think about was getting
back on the volleyball court again. After discovering the collapsed lung,
Eddie’s doctors told him he could no longer play. But his one last wish
according to his coach was to play in his team’s playoffs. Last month, without
anyone knowing he was coming, Eddie showed up minutes before his team’s first
playoff game on May 7th.
“The
two teams were going through warm-ups,” said his coach Kim Tolve. “We find out Eddie kind of snuck into the school
through the back entrance, and he comes walking into the gym with his uniform
and knee pads on, with a smile on his face and a letter in his hand (which was
a medical waiver). And that just got the guys all fired up. It was hard to hold
back the tears.”
In
true storybook fashion, Eddy then helps his team score their very first point
of the playoffs and his team goes on to win game one! “I’m so proud of him,” Nogay’s mother, Natalya Kan said. “Before he was
diagnosed, I never knew how much volleyball meant to him. No matter how much he
has pain, he wants to play.”
Here
is a young man, obviously devoted to playing the game of volleyball, yet many days he would wake up in a hospital with
a tube that would pass through his stomach and into his lungs to drain the
bloody fluid. He would battle through the many blood transfusions given to him.
He eventually knew that there was no medicine out there that could help
eradicate the cancer. Rather than be angry, what does Eddie do? He thought up
an idea to print T-Shirts and give to each of his teammates that would commemorate
their first playoff division victory, which he paid for himself! The design on the front was of a heart-shaped
volleyball with a special inscription on the back that read “HEART IS WHAT SETS
US APART!”
"Throughout
the whole situation, Eddie told his coach: “I’m going to make a difference.
When my arm was amputated, I'm pretty sure people didn't think I was going to
play. But I'm going to make it happen. I'm not going to sit around and let the
disease kill me”.
And
now there was only one last goal remaining for Eddie to achieve in his young
life. To live to celebrate his 18th birthday! Eddie’s mother and brother had planned a
birthday celebration for him at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center on June
3rd. They even invited more than 50 of Eddie’s high school classmates
and friends. Once everyone gathered by his room, there would be no party.
Eddie’s condition wouldn’t allow it. Instead everyone found themselves giving
their final goodbye to their friend and inspirational fighter who would pass
away ONE MINUTE after his birthday came to an end at 12:01 AM on Tuesday, June
4th.
Fellas – when you wake up every day, take a deep breath and take
advantage of your opportunities given to you in life … and leave no regrets!
My best for you always!
Jim Loria
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“Success
is just not making money, a good name and fame, but also standing firm after
failure with more energy, spirit, enthusiasm & courage to face what's
next" – stated by an unknown author
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“To
be successful you must accept all challenges that come your way. You can’t just
accept the ones you like” – stated by an unknown author
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"Courage is being scared to death...and saddling up
anyway" – stated by the great John
Wayne, legendary actor and director
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"It is never
easy to keep reaching for dreams. Strength and courage can sometimes be lonely
friends...but those who reach walk in stardust"- stated by an unknown
author"Always remember, you have within you the strength, the
patience, and the passion to reach for the stars to change the world." -
Harriet Tubman"Always remember, you have within you the strength, the
patience, and the passion to reach for the stars to change the world." -
Harriet Tubman
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“With
courage you will dare to take risks, have the strength to be compassionate and
the wisdom to be humble. Courage is the foundation of integrity” – stated by Keshavan Nair, Author –
Lessons from the Life of Gandhi
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