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Student cancer survivor inspires campus

Freshman Kristen Morton says her battle with cancer three years ago wasn’t a totally negative experience. In fact, she says it helped her put things in perspective —a positive change in her life.

“It made me realize what is important and what isn’t. These little things we worry about today will not matter 20, 30 years from now,” she said.

Morton’s positive attitude is what inspires people who come in contact with her—and is the reason she recruited almost 100 Schreiner students to participate in Kerr County’s first Relay for Life to benefit the American Cancer Society.

The 12-hour relay started at 6 p.m. May 2 at the Tivy High School track and ended at 6 a.m. the next day. Twenty teams participated in the relay, with a minimum of eight walkers per team.

Getting students to participate in a fundraiser is not an easy task. Getting them to participate in an all-night relay—the weekend before finals—is nearly impossible. Yet Morton managed to recruit seven teams of Schreiner students and one team of Schreiner staff members. The Schreiner teams raised $3,155.

“Schreiner really made a statement at the relay,” she said. “I was very proud and very excited. I’m hoping to make it an annual tradition.”

For Morton, helping the American Cancer Society was a natural step for her to take. “I felt that I was pretty fortunate (with my cancer battle) so I had to give back somehow,” she says.

Morton was diagnosed with cancer at the age of 16. Doctors discovered she had squamous cell carcinoma in her mouth—a cancer rarely seen in teen-agers.

“I remember when I was first diagnosed my doctor looked up this type of cancer in a medical book and he read that there we re only 18 cases of adolescents getting this cancer since 1980. It is normally seen only in adults who smoke,” she said. She underwent surgery and painful radiation treatments at Cook Children’s Medical Center in Fort Worth.

“I really surprised myself going through treatments—I was never really down. I was only down once when I thought I wouldn’t be able to talk again. But then I realized that in today’s day and age, there are so many technical things that would allow me to still communicate with my friends and family. So I wasn’t devastated because I thought there are ways around it,” she said.

But Morton got through the treatment with flying colors. She is now in remission, and her life is pretty much back to normal—she’s active again and even plays tennis for Schreiner. She does have to be on a special diet, though. No spicy foods, acidic foods or carbonated drinks.

“But that’s not a big deal. It keeps me away from sodas, which are bad for you anyway. I drink a lot more juices and water now,” she said. It was during her treatment that Morton learned about the American Cancer Society.

“The American Cancer Society provided what Cook’s Hospital couldn’t. They gave me nutritional information and special shakes that I could drink, and their Internet site provide my parents and me medical information,” she said.

Later, the organization awarded Morton a scholarship that helped her attend Schreiner. The scholarship was specifically for childhood cancer survivors. Last spring, Morton participated in the Re l a y for Life in San Angelo, her hometown. “I had so much fun at the relay in San Angelo. It is such an easy and fun way to support the American Cancer Society and spread awareness about cancer,” she said.

When she learned that volunteers were planning to have a relay in Kerrville, Morton immediately joined the planning committee. She recruited students to participate, organized her ow n team and raised money. “The work wasn’t hard but fitting it into my schedule was challenging,” she said, adding, “But it was well worth it.”

Morton also went to the track hours before the relay started to help set up. She walked in the relay for her team and stayed awake most of the night, sleeping only a couple of hours at her team’s campsite. And perhaps more important, she inspired others as the youngest walker in the survivors’ lap. About 40 cancer survivors walked a lap around the track to kick off the relay—and right in the front was a smiling Morton wearing her purple survivor’s T-shirt with pride. “You feel a part of a group, and it makes you proud,” she said of the survivors’ lap. “You realize it is not just you and that you’re part of a bigger group. That aspect really strengthens the spirit of the relay. I remember looking back and seeing all of the other survivors who have gone through what I did and more, and admiring them.”

“You realize it is not just you and that you’re part of a bigger group. That aspect really strengthens the spirit of the relay.”

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