Brody's Medical Fund

On the night of  September 11, 2015, a few friends and I received news that our close friend Brody Keefe was in the hospital and potentially had cancer. We immediately tried contacting him to get the full story, and were willing to drive an hour away to the hospital to see him despite it being 9pm. When he answered the phone he told us that the doctors had said that he may have lymphoma. Brody is always the person to stay positive under any circumstance, and despite the tragic situation that he has found himself in, right before he hung up the phone he said the words,"Don't worry I'll be fine." We all decided that the next morning we would all get together and go visit him as soon as possible. My friends and I arrived at the hospital at around 11am which is when visitation hours begin. As soon as we saw Brody, he tried his best to put on a smile and he yelled, "Yo looking good boys!" Brody is the type of person to always find joy and see the light in spite of a dark situation. Going into the hospital, we all anticipated a sad and depressing day, While the day was very sad, Brody showed us that there is no point in being depressed because it won't get us anywhere. While we were there he was his usual self. He was making jokes, laughing, and being a positive person as always. Even though he did his best to hide it, we could see the worry and pain in his eyes. He went on to tell us his situation, and that he needed to go into surgery to extract bone marrow and that he will need chemotherapy. He also told us that he would have to miss wrestling season, which we knew hit him hard. Brody is an amazing wrestler, and even went to regionals in Pennsylvania. All of this news hit us hard. It was as if in that moment when I heard the word "chemotherapy" that it all became real. One of my best friends was sitting in a hospital bed with cancer. This was when I knew that I had to do anything I could to help him, and I knew that all of my friends felt the same way. We eventually said our goodbye's to Brody and his family, and on the car ride home all we could think about is when we would go see him next and what was going to happen. We eventually arrived at home, and started brainstorming ideas of what we could do to help. We thought of fundraisers, visits, gifts, etc. Then my sister gave me a call with an idea. She told me about this fundraising website called gofundme. This brings me to tonight, September 12th, 2015, talking to you. Asking for the generous help of anybody willing to contribute. Brody is a fighter and if there's anybody that can make it through something like this it's him. This being said, his condition is getting worse and the financial cost of the treatment will be immense on his family. Any contribution will be a great help. Brody does not deserve to have this happening to him, but it is and it is not what happens in our life that defines us, but it is how we handle it that does. He is handling this better than I ever could have imagined, and for this he deserves endless support. Thank you.
-Mack van Schouwenburg