My Hero

The person of the week this week is Damien P. Damien is an 11 year old with acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) who I met yesterday at the children's hospital. He was diagnosed on August 25, 2008 and has since battled bravely, and with a smile. He even bragged that he required the longest needle of all the other kids to reach his port.

His Cuban family moved as political refugees to France in 1991, where Damien was born. Eventually they moved to Louisville via Orlando, Miami, and Indianapolis. In fact, Damien had only been in town three weeks when he was diagnosed. Naturally he did not have much time to make many friends here, but he is excited about visiting Indianapolis soon.

Damien said he loves playing sports, but hasn't been able to recently. Thus he loves video games now. He has an XBOX 360, PSP, and a DS but kind of gets bored since he has beaten every game he owns. If I ever get the chance to play him in a video game he will destroy me. I also found out he is very skilled in math, not only that but he likes school. Obviously a bright future. His favorite restaurant is Outback Steakhouse because it raises his blood count. The kid has jokes.

If you aren't already feeling like Damien is probably more awesome than you ... he is trilingual. Also, he was walking and fluent in his first language when he was only 1.5. When I was 1.5 it was a good day when I only pooped myself once.

Anyway, the reason I met Damien is because I am running the Derby City Marathon for him through a "Medal for Mettle" program. As I have ran 7 miles in the past six months, my finishing will be 100% because of Damien and his inspiration. I hope one day to have the courage and bravery he does. What a hero.