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Epoch Lacrosse Breast Cancer Shaft
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Winner: Epoch Lacrosse Breast Cancer Awareness Shaft

I want to start off by saying, Thank You! I never thought choosing a contest winner would be so hard, every single submission we received touched me in a different way. There was not one story that was more special than the others, that’s why it was so hard to decide who won the shaft.

We did decide that Parker Nolan a.k.a. Beast79 was our overall winner. I appreciate every one of you for sharing your unique stories about how breast cancer has effected your life. Again, if you didn’t win, don’t think your story was any less special than Parker’s, everything you did or will do to fight this awful disease is admirable. A special thank you from the LaxAllStar’s family goes to Joseph Galuppi, Dylan Wolford, Sam McPeak, Nick Wolter, Tom Timms, and Lee Arco for also sharing their amazing stories with us, and allowing us to run such a humbling contest. I also want to thank Epoch Lacrosse to their commitment to fighting breast cancer, and for donating a shaft to give away!

Here is Parker’s winning submission:

Hello Lax All Stars community, thanks for reading my story!

My name is Parker Nolan, and I am the son, nephew, and grandson of survivors. Breast cancer has had a substantial impact on my family. As is the norm, only the women in my family have had breast cancer, but the disease has also affected the men. My great aunt Barb was the first person to be diagnosed with breast cancer, stage two. At this time I wasn’t even born, but the chemo therapy has left it’s mark, enough for me to imagine what she must have looked like at the time. The second women in my family was my grandmother, and she was forty at the time. Despite numerous surgeries and diagnoses, she is still not completely rid of the disease, and she is now seventy two years old. To see her you would never know that she was the victim of cancer, she is the most upbeat and good natured person I have ever met. Her medications cost upwards of a thousand dollars per month, but she looks at the silver lining and never lets us shoulder the burden. She lives every day like it could be her last, which is a real possibility. My mother was not fortunate enough to be devoid of the gene, and was diagnosed eight years ago. She is now free of breast cancer, but the positive effects of the disease still longer. You are probably asking yourself what could possibly be positive about a malignant cancer cell, and I understand. Among these positives are my mother’s newfound respect for life, which sounds like a complete cliche. She has started keeping a journal of what happens everyday, “In case I won’t be around to tell your grandchildren about you.” This possibility absolutely terrifies me. That is why I started donating to various breast cancer organizations over the years. When I was younger, I used to make and sell homemade caramels on the street corner, and for the entire month of October, twenty five percent of proceeds I earned, I sent out to breast cancer societies. I was able to collect over three hundred dollars, not much by means of research, but it seemed a lot for an eight year old. Breast cancer did not slow down my family, instead, it brought us closer, gave us more positive attitudes, and taught us how truly precious life is.