On the way home from its Winter Break training program near Daytona Beach, Fla., the University women's crew team made an extra stop to the Wolfson Children's Hospital in Jacksonville. There, the squad visited Katie Carr, a 13-year-old rower diagnosed with cancer.
The rowing team first heard about Katie from an e-mail that first-year College student Mary Shaffer Willetts sent to college crew coaches all across the country. After reading the e-mail and learning about Katie's story, coach Kevin Sauer knew the team had to do something.
"I couldn't believe what this young girl had gone through," Sauer said.
According to Willett's e-mail, Katie was born in China and bounced from her grandparents' house to foster homes after her biological parents died. When she was still very young, the Carrs adopted her into their family and brought her to United States. All was well until last year, when Katie's adopted mother died of cancer.
Rowing helped Katie to cope with her mother's death, Willetts said, adding that Katie dedicated herself to her school's crew team. Then, this past summer, Katie's adopted father also was diagnosed with cancer.
Still, that was not all. During crew practice two to three months ago, Katie heard a crack in her upper arm - "a young rower's worst nightmare," Willetts said. After a visit to the doctor, Katie discovered that she has sarcoma, a cancer of the connective tissue and cartilage , meaning that she could possibly lose her arm.
Willetts, who lives in Katie's neighborhood, said though she does not know Katie very well, the Carrs are beloved by the community, and everyone was devastated to hear the news. As a result, Willetts and her father Gary decided to e-mail various crew teams, asking them to send messages of support.
"Crew is something she's very passionate about," Willetts said. "Knowing that people are praying for her, encouraging her - this is what will get her through this [disease]."
Sauer called Willetts after reading the e-mail and expressed the team's desire to see Katie.
"It was perfect," Willetts said.
A few days after sending the e-mail, Willetts went to the Carrs' house to tell Katie that the University women's crew team would visit her soon. It was the first time that Katie's father had seen his daughter smile in weeks.
"It was like providence, like it was supposed to happen," Sauer said, adding that the team's bus route went right through Jacksonville, near Katie's hospital.
When Sauer told the team about Katie, captain Lauren Hutchins said everyone was excited to visit her. All 40-plus team members arrived at the hospital and bounded up five flights of stairs to a conference room where they met Katie and presented her with a signed oar.
"It was a pretty amazing experience," Hutchins said. When she asked Katie what she missed most, the young girl replied "rowing, crew, and rowing."
Katie was fairly quiet during the visit, Hutchins said. Sauer offered Katie a few words of encouragement, as did several members of the team. Both Katie's father and older sister Elizabeth, who has taken time off from school to be with her family, were there.
Sauer said the team was touched to witness Katie's courage.
"She's an amazing kid," he said. "Because she was touched, we were touched."
Hutchins agreed, describing the team's time with Katie as an emotional experience and one that left many of the team members teary-eyed.
"I think it meant a lot to her to know that complete strangers are supporting her and know about her," Hutchins said.
During the past few weeks, Willetts' e-mail has continued to circulate throughout the rowing community. Willetts said she has received calls and e-mails from crew teams across the country saying that they are praying for Katie. Willetts also has heard that Boston College football player Mark Herzlich, who recovered from Ewing's Sarcoma, is writing a letter of encouragement to Katie.
Since its visit, the Virginia crew team has stayed in contact with Katie through CaringBridge.org, a Web site through which the rowers can send Katie supportive posts to let her know that they are thinking of her.
Katie still has six weeks of chemotherapy remaining, Willetts said. If there are still cancer cells in her arm or shoulder at the end of the treatment, her arm will have to be amputated. After her most recent trip to the hospital, however, the swelling in Katie's shoulder had subsided.
"The entire rowing team is pulling for her," Sauer said. "Literally"
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