The "So Do Not Fear, For I Am With You" Story

It was an ordinary day.  My daughter-in-law Barbara just called to tell me that the young man who our family had supported in his battle with an advanced form of brain cancer has his photograph on the front page of the morning newspaper.  It was about two months ago that Carol and I along with Barb, our son Derek and grandson Caden traveled to a church near Millersville, Pennsylvania for a big pasta supper.  Great meal with a huge crowd.  The event was to raise funds to help pay for the medical expenses of a young man by the name of Isaiah Shorter who is a freshman in high school.  It was back in July of this past summer that Isaiah began experiencing painful and frequent headaches. He saw a specialist and three days later he had surgery to remove a malignant peripheral nerve sheath tumor.  This type of cancer is very rare with no medical case studies on it.  His surgeons removed 80% of the tumor and now Isaiah is the midst of a months-long chemotherapy treatment.  Soon he will have another MRI to see if another surgery will be needed.  Since Isaiah had played football for many years, on December 17th Isaiah and his family traveled to FedEx Field in Landover, Maryland to see the Washington Redskins play the Arizona Cardinals.  

Isaiah holding the sign a family member made for him.

The Redskins are Isaiah's favorite NFL team so the excitement,  atmosphere and burgandy and gold crowd helped to cheer him.  He carried a sign a family member had made for him that read: Fighting Chemo. but Can't keep me from My Team.  A security guard saw him standing in the seating area with his sign and grabbed him and took him down by the players as they were warming up.  Nineteen Redskin players made their way over to talk to Isaiah before the game and signed his poster.  

Redskin player Martrell Spaight

A picture of him holding the poster eventually went viral.  The family enjoyed the game and when finally arriving home found a message on their home phone from one of the Redskin players who wanted to get in touch with Isaiah.  Seems that Redskins linebacker Martrell Spaight was busy warming up and didn't see Isaiah's message until after the game.  He was so moved that he reached out to try and find Isaiah.  With the help of Isaiah's teachers and friends, Spaight was able to get in contact with Isaiah on Instagram.  

Photo of Martrell and Isaiah.

Eventually the player talked to Isaiah's parents and learned the whole story.  Wasn't long before he arrived at the Shorter home to visit with Isaiah and his family.  Martrell, a fellow who is six feet tall, weighs 243 pounds and plays one of the most physically demanding sports, spent three hours at Isaiah's house where he talked football with Isaiah and his family.  The visit was great for Isaiah in that anything that brings real joy to him can only be a positive factor and helps him look toward the future.  His mother Nancy said that faith has helped Isaiah stay strong.  Isaiah and Martrell really hit it off when they talked about Isaiah's wristbands which the Shorter family has shared with the community.  

The wristbands to help support Isaiah in his recovery.
Inside them is his, as well as Martrell's favorite Bible verse.

Inside the wristband is Isaiah's favorite Bible verse from the book of Isaiah which reads: "So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God." Powerful stuff for a young boy trying to beat a dreaded disease!  And, then Martrell told Isaiah, "You aren't going to believe this," as he showed him a tattoo on his right arm that read: "So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God."  Wow!  And what made the visit even more memorable was the fact that Isaiah wasn't supposed to go to the game, since he was supposed to be having another surgery.  His doctors decided at the last minute for more treatments instead of the surgery.  It was just meant to be!  A chance meeting may be what is the difference for both of these fine young men.  It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy.

PS - The road to recovery for Isaiah, as well as his family, will be long...and expensive.  His parents luckily have medical insurance, but the costs still will be astronomical, with much not being covered.  And, Isaiah is one of six children.  If you care to, and can, contribute to help with his recovery, please check out his GoFundMe site and make a contribution.  I'm sure he and his parents will be appreciative of our gifts.  Thank You!

https://www.gofundme.com/isaiah-shorter-mountville

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