Landon Brice Medical Fund
Donation protected
Landon Brice, the Rush-Henrietta senior battling a serious liver disease, underwent successful transplant surgery on Thursday at Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh.
“The kid’s a fighter,” said Rick Gerbino, one of Brice’s former youth coaches who also works at R-H.
Gerbino has been in contact with Pinky Brice, Landon’s mother. The 17-year-old went on the transplant list in April when his condition deteriorated. His family received the call they’d been waiting for on Wednesday and needed to drive to Pittsburgh and be ready by Thursday morning. The procedure, which took about 12 hours, Gerbino said, began at 9:15 a.m. after three hours of preparations. Brice is expected to remain hospitalized for about eight weeks during recovery. An honor roll student, he was initially diagnosed four years ago and had to give up contact sports. He was an honorary captain at the football team’s homecoming game this fall and R-H players all wear “LB” stickers on their helmets in his honor. The sixth-seeded Royal Comets (6-3) are writing a comeback story of their own, too. After an up-and-down regular season, coach Joe Montesano’s team upset No. 3 seed Pittsford and No. 2 Victor – both previously unbeaten squads that R-H lost to in the regular season – in the Section V Class AA playoffs.
Next up is Sunday’s 4 p.m. showdown at Sahlen’s Stadium against unbeaten Aquinas (9-0), which is tied for No. 1 in the state large-school rankings.
Brice’s senior classmates at R-H signed two huge banners with well-wishes for him and the Class of 2016 also gathered for a picture, posing with each student forming a heart with their hands. The banners read: “We (HEART) you Landon.”
“The kid’s a fighter,” said Rick Gerbino, one of Brice’s former youth coaches who also works at R-H.
Gerbino has been in contact with Pinky Brice, Landon’s mother. The 17-year-old went on the transplant list in April when his condition deteriorated. His family received the call they’d been waiting for on Wednesday and needed to drive to Pittsburgh and be ready by Thursday morning. The procedure, which took about 12 hours, Gerbino said, began at 9:15 a.m. after three hours of preparations. Brice is expected to remain hospitalized for about eight weeks during recovery. An honor roll student, he was initially diagnosed four years ago and had to give up contact sports. He was an honorary captain at the football team’s homecoming game this fall and R-H players all wear “LB” stickers on their helmets in his honor. The sixth-seeded Royal Comets (6-3) are writing a comeback story of their own, too. After an up-and-down regular season, coach Joe Montesano’s team upset No. 3 seed Pittsford and No. 2 Victor – both previously unbeaten squads that R-H lost to in the regular season – in the Section V Class AA playoffs.
Next up is Sunday’s 4 p.m. showdown at Sahlen’s Stadium against unbeaten Aquinas (9-0), which is tied for No. 1 in the state large-school rankings.
Brice’s senior classmates at R-H signed two huge banners with well-wishes for him and the Class of 2016 also gathered for a picture, posing with each student forming a heart with their hands. The banners read: “We (HEART) you Landon.”
Organizer
Nicole Silka Volpe
Organizer
Rush, NY
