In July 2013, as a result of a routine physical, it was determined that I had a 1″ cancerous tumor on my left kidney.  Two weeks later, August 13, I had surgery to remove the tumor.  When I woke up I learned that they had to remove my entire left kidney, my adrenal gland, my lymph node and a part of a rib. The tumor was imbedded and the cancer had started to spread. I had a 7″ incision being held together by 16 staples. Like any other person that has ever been told they have cancer it scares you to death. I started researching and reading everything I could about it.  I learned that kidney cancer is considered a “rare disease”because it affects fewer than 200,000 Americans. As a result, there’s little funding for research and few options for treatment.  It also doesn’t respond to chemotherapy and radiation so your choices are simple, you remove it or you don’t and take the chance it doesn’t spread.

During my research I came across an article about a man named Don Shirley.  Mr. Shirley’s life activities mirrored mine in many ways. He was a high school coach, as was I. He had no symptoms or family history of cancer, nor did I. Mr Shirley first encountered kidney cancer in 1993, before finally passing away when the cancer came back in 2005, at the age of 55, I would turn 55, one month after my surgery.  I also learned that Mr. Shirley had a son, Scott, that was a member of my favorite college football team, the Penn State Nittany Lions.  He had graduated in December 2004 from Penn State with a master’s degree in engineering. I had coached at the Penn State Summer Football Camps for 12 summers and was a season ticket holder.  I found the story of Scott Shirley very interesting as well, and needed to know more about him and the charity that he started called “Uplifting Athletes” that raises money for nearly 7000 rare diseases.

I found contact information and reached out to Scott. We’ve talked several times and communicate regularly through social media. The more we talked the more intrigued I became and the more I wanted to share his story. We recently sat down and did a question and answer session.

PHILLY PRESSBOX (PP): Can you tell us about yourself and your background?

SCOTT SHIRLEY (SS): I am a husband and father who helps college football student-athletes learn how to leverage the position they are in to help other by using their natural talents to the best of their ability. During my time at Penn State I was a wide receiver on the football team (1999-2003) and a catcher on the baseball team (2001). The degrees that I’ve earned include a BS in Engineering and Masters of Engineering from Penn State and I am an Executive Scholar from Northwestern’s Kellogg School of Management. Currently I serve as the Executive Director of Uplifting Athletes Inc and CEO of PledgePlatform LLC. Community involvement includes the Board of Directors for AmeriChoice Federal Credit Union and the Board of Governors for the Maxwell Football Club. In my free time I play semi-pro baseball for the Mechanicsburg Cardinals.

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Tags: Damon Jones, Jacks's Run-Nebraska, Joe Paterno, Penn State Football, Philly Sports News, Scott Shirley, TalkSportsPhilly, Uplifting Athletes, www.upliftingathletes.org