Kicking Cancer with LUSC (PHOTOS)

Sports, life and love intersect as Lexington's youth soccer community rallies around one of its own in a young girl's fight to overcome leukemia.

Soccer is a lot of things to a lot of people. In the case of Lexington’s Watson family, it means both sport and support. Theirs is a story about soccer, sisters and kicking cancer. At the start of last summer, Jesi Watson was riding high. Coming off a successful spring, she was assigned to an LPDA squad, picked up her equipment and headed off to a pool party.  Fourteen months later, the equipment’s never been used.  At that pool party, Jesi stubbed her toe, which became infected. Which led to some blood tests. Which led to a shocking diagnosis. On July 11, 2010, Jesi Watson learned she had acute lymphoblastic leukemia. “I was kind of like, freaked out because I didn’t know what to do when the doctor called and said I had to go to Children’…

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Denise J. Dubé

4:05 pm on Tuesday, September 27, 2011

Thank you for sharing this story. Nice job, Patrick.   more ›

Lexingtonians Walk for Jimmy Fund

Twenty-five Lexington residents signed up to walk 26.2 miles to raise money for Dana-Farber.

Twenty-five residents from Lexington walked up to 26.2 miles along the historic route of the Boston Marathon last Sunday in the 23rd annual Boston Marathon Jimmy Fund Walk, according to event organizers.  The locals were among the "nearly 9,000 walkers expected to participate with the collective goal of raising more than $7.5 million for lifesaving adult and pediatric patient care and cancer research at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute through its Jimmy Fund," according to a press release. The Walk is the largest single-day participatory event benefiting the Jimmy Fund and Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and is the only other event sanctioned to use the Hopkinton-to-Boston marathon route, according to the press release. “We are thankful to …

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About Town: Remembering Jessica

Shepherd Fund keeps alive the memory of Jessica Colleen Buckley Shepherd, who died Saturday after complications from esophageal cancer.

You now have new orders to protect heaven’s shores. Carry out the plan of the day. Semper Fi.  – Diana Buckley’s eulogy to her daughter. Jessica Shepherd died on Sept. 3, 2011. She was only 31, which isn't long enough for any parent, spouse, sibling or child. Staying or leaving isn’t our call, no matter how hard we fight. According to her brother-in-law, Raymond Santos, who spoke on behalf of the family, Jessica was an extraordinary woman who accomplished more in her short 31 years than most could in three lifetimes. Her obituary states she was born Jessica Colleen Buckley, the daughter of Edward and Diana, formerly of Lexington, but now of Londonderry, NH. She was a Marine who married Staff Sgt. Brandon Shepherd and a devoted and …

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Making a Splash In the Fight Against Cancer

LHS students are organizing a May 15 "Swim for Life" to benefit Dana-Farber.

It’s often said that enthusiastic volunteers “dive in” to cause they are passionate about. A pair of Lexington teens are taking the phrase literally. Lily Hochman and Lauren Jackson, co-founders of Lexington Youth Against Cancer, are recruiting swimmers and volunteers for “Swim for Life” fundraiser to benefit the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute. Asking people to swim for cancer research, rather than, say, running or walking, may sound a bit strange, but Hochman said there’s a simple explanation for their aquatic event. “We decided to have a swim because teenagers are very social beings,” said Hochman, a 16-year-old junior at Lexington High School. “With a walk or a run, you really only get to talk and socialize with the people in your group, …

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Patch Facts

Five Things You Need to Know Today: May 5

A student stress discussion, a student drama production and student fundraisers on TV.

1.It's Cinco de Mayo. Go ahead and grab a burrito, crack open a cold cerveza and celebrate the Mexican Army's victory at the Battle of Puebla on May 5, 1862. 2. Local teens Lauren Jackson and Lily Hochman, from Lexington Youth Against Cancer, will be on Fox News at 9:15 a.m. to talk about their upcoming Swim Against Cancer fundraising event, according to Hochman. 3. Student stress discussed. A week after the Collaborative to Reduce Student Stress hosted screenings of the film "Race to Nowhere," the Phyllis Klein Thrope Memorial Fund of Temple Emunah will sponsor a free and facilitated community-wide conversation about the film and student stress. The event is at Temple Emunah and doors open at 6:45 p.m. 4. The Drood abides. Tonight's …

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Survivors' Fashion Show Benefits Cancer Patients

One woman finds ways to support cancer research for children and adults.

Kyle James of Concord learned the power of a smile the hard way - she witnessed Savanna, her four-year old granddaughter, smile while recovering from cancer. James knew doctors had given her a 20 percent chance of survival. Diagnosed with Ewing's sarcoma, a rare form of bone or soft tissue cancer, Savanna underwent surgery at Boston's Children's Hospital to remove a five-inch diameter of her skull and the tumor beneath it. Savanna was treated with six weeks of radiation and 42 weeks of chemotherapy at Boston's Dana-Farber Cancer Institute before having to wear a protective helmet for a year. She is 10 now and has been cancer free for four years. "Seeing Savanna smile through it all gave me the motivation to raise money for others living …

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Lexington Business is Fed Up With Cancer

Craig Cohen, president of Cohen Construction, has joined the fight against cancer with his donation to Fed Up With Cancer.

They say the pen is mightier than the sword, and so the ballpoint is Craig Cohen's chosen weapon in the fight against the most deadly of foes: cancer. Cohen, the president of Cohen Construction in Lexington, recently made a donation of more than $2,300 to Fed Up With Cancer, according to a press release supplied by Thomson Communications. Last year, Jason Maxell, president of MassPay in Beverly, created the Fed Up With Cancer organization to support the North Shore Medical Center Cancer WALK and other related North Shore charities. A cancer survivor himself, Cohen has committed to donating a percentage of his sales to the organization throughout 2011, the press release said.

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