thedrifter
05-20-06, 07:20 AM
Marines race for Grace
MCB Quantico
Story by: Capt. Paul D. Duncan
FREDERICKSBURG, Va.(May 18, 2006) -- Finding motivation to stay physically fit is usually not a problem for the Marines of Quantico, whether it is the need for combat conditioning, higher physical fitness test scores or for personal satisfaction. However, hundreds of Marines and local civilians assembled Saturday to endure physical conditioning for a very different reason.
“The Race for Grace,” is a charity event organized by Maj. Rex Sappenfield, The Basic School adjutant, to assist the family of Grace Oughton, a 23-month-old girl diagnosed with an aggressive form of cancer, known as neuroblastoma, according to the American Cancer Institute.
Neuroblastoma is one of the most common solid tumors of early childhood usually found in babies or young children. This aggressive form of cancer usually originates in the brain or other sites of sympathetic nervous tissue. The most common site is the abdomen near the adrenal gland, but can also be found in the chest, neck, pelvis or other sites.
Learning about this devastating disease has made Sappenfield view daily tasks differently.
When you hear about something like this you go home and you look at your children, and question whether they brushed their teeth or did their homework, he said. “But when the Oughton’s go home, they have to deal with wondering if their child is going to go to pre-school, or if she is going to make it to the fifth grade or to her senior prom.
“What we worry about is trivial in comparison. And God put it in my heart to want to do something,” Sappenfield said.
More than 500 Marines and civilians participated in the event, including Col. Royal Mortenson, TBS commanding officer and the over all winner of the race, Maj. Alex G. Hetherington, commanding officer of Alpha Company at The Basic School.
“I found out about this event through Rex, and he took on the planning of the entire event,” said Hetherington. “He knows that I am a big runner, so when he told me about Grace I knew that I wanted to do what I could to help out.”
“It’s amazing to see 600 people show up and show this kind of support for our daughter,” said Alec Oughton, the 33-year-old father of Grace. “I don’t know if you have kids of your own but it has been very emotional for my wife Crystal and me. Grace has a stage four neuroblastoma – four being the worst.”
Grace has been placed on a very aggressive treatment protocol that involves five rounds of chemotherapy, stem-cell collection, surgery, local radiation, a stem-cell transplant with chemotherapy and then a stem-cell transplant with total body radiation, which is not done anywhere in Virginia.
“At the first hospital we were at, patients under their particular protocol were given a 25 percent survival rating, and then we went up to Boston for a second opinion where the patients had about a 58 percent survival rating, which of course is a tremendous difference worth us uprooting our family and selling everything we had to make the move,” Oughton said.
Despite whatever intra-service rivalries may exist between the Navy and the Marine Corps, there is unquestionable love and appreciation for Navy Corpsmen, which is yet another reason behind why the Marines of Quantico wanted to show unconditional support for the Oughton family, said Sgt. Andrew Kelly, a martial arts instructor trainer stationed at Quantico.
“Mr. Oughton is a former Navy Corpsmen,” said Kelly. “And though I would have been here to support anyway, it makes it extra special to be able to support someone who has taken care of so many Marines. Corpsmen have always been a part of the Marine Corps family, which makes Mr. Oughton my brother and Grace my little sister.”
“In the end it all came down to Marines doing what they do best — completing a mission,” said Joe Fuganetti, shop owner in downtown Fredericksburg. “When Rex came to me with the plan to organize the race, I knew that it would take a lot of work to get everything done in time for the proposed May 13 date. But when you have someone as professional as a major in the Marine Corps working with an old salt like myself, we knew we could get the job done.”
“This event is extraordinarily important and as Marines we understand service, particularly the importance of public service,” said Mortenson. “Every Marine should give, whenever he or she can, back to society in other ways besides our profession in order to stay engaged in the communities in which we live, so that the American public can understand and see in action that Marines are not only willing to protect American citizens with their very lives if need-be, but are willing to support them with their time as well.”
For more information on how you can help support Grace and the Oughton family, go to www.graceoughtoncancerfoundation.org.
Ellie
MCB Quantico
Story by: Capt. Paul D. Duncan
FREDERICKSBURG, Va.(May 18, 2006) -- Finding motivation to stay physically fit is usually not a problem for the Marines of Quantico, whether it is the need for combat conditioning, higher physical fitness test scores or for personal satisfaction. However, hundreds of Marines and local civilians assembled Saturday to endure physical conditioning for a very different reason.
“The Race for Grace,” is a charity event organized by Maj. Rex Sappenfield, The Basic School adjutant, to assist the family of Grace Oughton, a 23-month-old girl diagnosed with an aggressive form of cancer, known as neuroblastoma, according to the American Cancer Institute.
Neuroblastoma is one of the most common solid tumors of early childhood usually found in babies or young children. This aggressive form of cancer usually originates in the brain or other sites of sympathetic nervous tissue. The most common site is the abdomen near the adrenal gland, but can also be found in the chest, neck, pelvis or other sites.
Learning about this devastating disease has made Sappenfield view daily tasks differently.
When you hear about something like this you go home and you look at your children, and question whether they brushed their teeth or did their homework, he said. “But when the Oughton’s go home, they have to deal with wondering if their child is going to go to pre-school, or if she is going to make it to the fifth grade or to her senior prom.
“What we worry about is trivial in comparison. And God put it in my heart to want to do something,” Sappenfield said.
More than 500 Marines and civilians participated in the event, including Col. Royal Mortenson, TBS commanding officer and the over all winner of the race, Maj. Alex G. Hetherington, commanding officer of Alpha Company at The Basic School.
“I found out about this event through Rex, and he took on the planning of the entire event,” said Hetherington. “He knows that I am a big runner, so when he told me about Grace I knew that I wanted to do what I could to help out.”
“It’s amazing to see 600 people show up and show this kind of support for our daughter,” said Alec Oughton, the 33-year-old father of Grace. “I don’t know if you have kids of your own but it has been very emotional for my wife Crystal and me. Grace has a stage four neuroblastoma – four being the worst.”
Grace has been placed on a very aggressive treatment protocol that involves five rounds of chemotherapy, stem-cell collection, surgery, local radiation, a stem-cell transplant with chemotherapy and then a stem-cell transplant with total body radiation, which is not done anywhere in Virginia.
“At the first hospital we were at, patients under their particular protocol were given a 25 percent survival rating, and then we went up to Boston for a second opinion where the patients had about a 58 percent survival rating, which of course is a tremendous difference worth us uprooting our family and selling everything we had to make the move,” Oughton said.
Despite whatever intra-service rivalries may exist between the Navy and the Marine Corps, there is unquestionable love and appreciation for Navy Corpsmen, which is yet another reason behind why the Marines of Quantico wanted to show unconditional support for the Oughton family, said Sgt. Andrew Kelly, a martial arts instructor trainer stationed at Quantico.
“Mr. Oughton is a former Navy Corpsmen,” said Kelly. “And though I would have been here to support anyway, it makes it extra special to be able to support someone who has taken care of so many Marines. Corpsmen have always been a part of the Marine Corps family, which makes Mr. Oughton my brother and Grace my little sister.”
“In the end it all came down to Marines doing what they do best — completing a mission,” said Joe Fuganetti, shop owner in downtown Fredericksburg. “When Rex came to me with the plan to organize the race, I knew that it would take a lot of work to get everything done in time for the proposed May 13 date. But when you have someone as professional as a major in the Marine Corps working with an old salt like myself, we knew we could get the job done.”
“This event is extraordinarily important and as Marines we understand service, particularly the importance of public service,” said Mortenson. “Every Marine should give, whenever he or she can, back to society in other ways besides our profession in order to stay engaged in the communities in which we live, so that the American public can understand and see in action that Marines are not only willing to protect American citizens with their very lives if need-be, but are willing to support them with their time as well.”
For more information on how you can help support Grace and the Oughton family, go to www.graceoughtoncancerfoundation.org.
Ellie