An Assist for Michael O'Rourke
Donation protected
Michael O’Rourke, from Conshohocken, Archbishop Kennedy ‘67 (St. Matthew’s) and Philadelphia College of Textiles and Science ’71 (Jefferson University), is well known in our area as a terrific athlete and friend.
The past 10 years or so have been extremely difficult for Michael. His world changed when a bout with spinal stenosis had him in Jefferson Hospital, in a wheel chair. With typical resolve, he was able to walk out of that facility approximately 6 weeks later! Unfortunately, his fine motor skills, mostly nerves and hands have never fully recovered. This is problematic for Michael as he had been making his living as a painter up to that point. His problem makes working virtually impossible for him. As an active working man, and still an athlete with his Martial Arts programs, being unable to do physical activities was a difficult situation for him to deal with, but he did so.
In 2019 he was diagnosed with tongue and throat cancer. This required surgery, chemo, and radiation treatments. His taste buds have been impacted, as is the case with this approach to dealing with the cancer. With the same resolve that he utilized in dealing with spinal stenosis, he came through the disease and its treatment only to learn approximately two months later that the cancer had “jumped” and was now found under his clavicle. Another full round of both chemo and radiation treatments were the only options available, and again, Michael faced the dilemma and completed the program.
All this brings us to January 2021 and he has been announced as “cancer free”, thank God.
What is problematic now is that being unable to earn income because of the stenosis, his medical bills are significant and we’re asking all of his old teammates and friends to help out by donating to this Go Fund Me program if you can. The donations will only be used for paying off the medical bills which have accumulated to this point.
Thank you for your consideration in advance from Bruce Shively and Bill Irwin.
The past 10 years or so have been extremely difficult for Michael. His world changed when a bout with spinal stenosis had him in Jefferson Hospital, in a wheel chair. With typical resolve, he was able to walk out of that facility approximately 6 weeks later! Unfortunately, his fine motor skills, mostly nerves and hands have never fully recovered. This is problematic for Michael as he had been making his living as a painter up to that point. His problem makes working virtually impossible for him. As an active working man, and still an athlete with his Martial Arts programs, being unable to do physical activities was a difficult situation for him to deal with, but he did so.
In 2019 he was diagnosed with tongue and throat cancer. This required surgery, chemo, and radiation treatments. His taste buds have been impacted, as is the case with this approach to dealing with the cancer. With the same resolve that he utilized in dealing with spinal stenosis, he came through the disease and its treatment only to learn approximately two months later that the cancer had “jumped” and was now found under his clavicle. Another full round of both chemo and radiation treatments were the only options available, and again, Michael faced the dilemma and completed the program.
All this brings us to January 2021 and he has been announced as “cancer free”, thank God.
What is problematic now is that being unable to earn income because of the stenosis, his medical bills are significant and we’re asking all of his old teammates and friends to help out by donating to this Go Fund Me program if you can. The donations will only be used for paying off the medical bills which have accumulated to this point.
Thank you for your consideration in advance from Bruce Shively and Bill Irwin.
Organizer
Michael O'Rourke
Organizer
Cheltenham Township, PA