| Date: | April 23, 2017 |
| Time: | 12:00 - 4:00 PM |
| Venue: | Virginia Tech Indoor Practice Facility |
| Description: |
Virginia Tech Football Player Joey Slye presents the Help Joey Kick Cancer Event on Sunday, April 23, 2017 at the Virginia Tech Indoor Practice Facility. This is a fundraising event organized to help Joey Slye in his campaign for Virginia Leukemia Lymphoma Society Man of the Year. The event will feature: • Photo Opps with Virginia Athletes and Special Guests • Silent Auction • Bubble Ball Soccer • Corn Hole Tournament • Food Trucks • Other Tailgating Games Joey's goal is to break the state record for one year of fund raising which is $117,000.00. We are also working towards breaking the record for most people registered for Be the Match in a day. Currently the University of Alabama holds the record with 1,100 registrants in a single event. Admission is free and all are welcome. Participants are asked to register and swab with Be the Match. Note: Some activities may include a fee. Joey's Story: Joey's 19 year old brother AJ was diagnosed with Acute Myeloid Leukemia (AML), a rare form of blood cancer, on December 15, 2012, after a minor hospital visit turned into an extensive stay. Immediately after being diagnosed, AJ was rushed by ambulance to The University of Virginia Medical Center to begin an aggressive chemotherapy treatment designed to force his cancer into remission. Two rounds of chemo and 45 days later…it didn’t work. AJ was quickly transferred to John's Hopkins Medical Center to enter an experimental trial, again designed to battle his cancer into remission. Again…it didn’t work, but this time the doctors said, “We’re sorry, there is nothing else we can do here." Thankfully, St. Jude's Children's Research Hospital gave his brother a chance to continue fighting against this horrible disease. After a few months within a new trial, AJ’s leukemia cells were reduced enough to permit a stem cell transplant, his only hope of survival. At first the transplant appeared extremely successful, but the cancer cells mutated and came back stronger than ever. Multiple drugs, multiple surgeries and a long 9 months of torturous fighting left my brother's body too weak to continue fighting, and he passed away February 27, 2014. AJ’s story can’t end here! To donate to Joey's campaign online, visit: http://www.mwoy.org/pages/va/va17/jslyen. To view the event flyer, visit: https://s13.postimg.org/lxovz5g87/Joey_Slye_Kick_Cancer_Event.jpg. For more information, visit: https://www.facebook.com/events/1399451780101180/. |