Even though he was stationed 5546 miles away on a peacekeeping mission at Camp Bondsteel in Kosovo, Auburn student and U.S. Army Reserve Spc. Josiah Greene found a way to reach out to Shon Coleman, a blue-chip offensive lineman from Olive Branch, Miss. who signed with Auburn in February.
On Sunday, Greene, a sophomore majoring in Animal Sciences, and six of his fellow soldiers flew an Auburn flag while wearing specially designed patches in honor of Coleman, who was diagnosed in March with acute lymphoblastic leukemia, as they took part in the 26km DANCON march, which wound them along the rugged trails and rolling hills of rural Kosovo, a disputed territory in the Balkans.
"When news of Shon's diagnosis came out," Greene said, "I knew this march was meant to be in his honor, so once again the flag flies."
Greene had previously flown an Auburn flag for other DANCON marches, such as the Bataan Memorial Death March, which honored Lt. Oel Johnson, Auburn class of 1934, who was a survivor of the Bataan Death March and prisoner of war in Japan during World War II.
Coleman's mother, De Keishia Tunstall, said Greene's project to honor her son was phenomenal.
"Now, with it being a half-world away, I was really floored," Tunstall said. "Shon was floored. We really couldn't believe that someone so far away, who didn't even know him, would reach out and want to do something so special."
As a radiologic technologist in Task Force Med Falcon who provides care for U.S. soldiers as well as soldiers from deployed foreign contingencies, Greene said the importance of having a passion for helping people and improving their situations was the biggest connection between what he does at the base and what he did at the road march for Coleman.
"It's my job in the hospital to make those types of situations for people, if not completely better, at least a little bit brighter," Greene said.
Greene said he looked for a way to get the Auburn family more involved with the road march, so with Tunstall's approval, he set up a St. Jude Tribute fund in Coleman's name to raise money for cancer awareness.
The fund has already raised more than $13,000 for St. Jude Children's Research Hospital. The original goal of $10,000 has been surpassed, which was "very surreal" to Greene, who said he just set that goal because it was the first number to pop in his head, not because he expected to obtain it.
"I set the new goal to $20,000 and would love to see not just the Auburn family rally around this fund, but fans of other schools around the SEC and the country," Greene said. "This fund is about something bigger than one person or one university. This fund is about making a difference in the lives of children and families nationwide."
Tunstall said the tribute fund Greene set up with St. Jude was an amazing thing because "not only was he looking out for my son, but he's looking out for other families."
Tunstall also stressed the importance of supporting the research, care and support provided by St. Jude, a non-profit hospital that relies strictly on donations, in a message to Auburn students who may be looking for ways to help.
"If there's something they want to do, give to St. Jude," Tunstall said. "If they're ever in the Memphis area, give time to St. Jude. Anything. Anything to keep that organization going because it's so so important that they do, because of the impact that they're making in the lives of children."
Tunstall said in addition to medical services, St. Jude also provides services that support any aspect patients and families might face during treatment, including meals, transportation and even lodging.
"Anything that you could possibly think of, they have it covered," Tunstall said.
Coleman officially started the consolidation phase of his treatments Wednesday and will only have to travel to St. Jude a couple of days every two weeks, Tunstall said. She said her son has made remarkable progress during phase one, the induction phase, which required four to five trips a week.
"When Shon went into the hospital, his body was 60 percent invaded with cancer cells, so 60 percent of his cells were cancerous in his blood stream," Tunstall said. "Within two weeks at St. Jude: zero, which is amazing. The doctors were completely astounded."
Tunstall asked everyone to continue their prayers for her son and her family.
"You know, it kind of appears that it's been somewhat of an easy process up until the point, but he still has a long way to go," Tunstall said. "And you know anything can happen with his treatment between now and when all this is over. So I would just ask that everyone would continue to keep him and my family in their prayers."
On Monday, Coleman was able to "get up and get out," Tunstall said. "He went to the gym and worked out, which is something that he likes to do and have the strength to do."
Tunstall said her son would also like to grow dreads.
"He has not lost a string of hair, and he's not going to get it cut, definitely," Tunstall said. "That's what he's aiming for. Actually, he kind of gave me a sample yesterday of what the dreads would look like because I've always been opposed to them, because I don't like them. But actually, what he showed me yesterday was really cute, and I told him I think he should go for it. So he's getting dreads."
Coleman also wants to make regular trips down to Auburn to visit his future teammates, with whom he has already built bonds, Tunstall said. She wants to keep him in that college spirit even though he cannot attend just yet.
"He was so ready, thinking he was going to be leaving in June and heading down, but it looks like it's going to be the summer of 2011, and he's really looking forward to that," Tunstall said. "He's doing really well with his treatments and everything, so I don't foresee any reason why that wouldn't be attainable for him."
Tunstall said she underestimated how much support Coleman would receive from the Auburn family and from people all across the nation, including hundreds of e-mails, text messages and Facebook postings.
"Sometimes I feel bad," Tunstall said. "Initially, when we started, I was trying to reach out to everyone personally and thank them, and let them know to keep praying, but it's actually gotten to where I would actually have to quit my job in order to be able to reach out to everyone personally."
Tunstall set up a CaringBridge site to provide updates on Coleman's progress and to thank everyone who has reached out to support her son.
"It's the best feeling in the world," Tunstall said. "Feels like you just have a big set of arms wrapped around you while you're going through this bad situation."
Greene's deployment ends in July.
"You hear 'Auburn family,'" Tunstall said. "We're new to the Auburn family, so I didn't realize just how many people were out there. I've got a lot of special people, but what Josiah took it upon himself to do was just really phenomenal and really amazing. He doesn't necessarily know Shon personally. He doesn't know my family personally. But for someone to be so touched to start a project like this, it's really a great thing."
Both look forward to the day they will be able to meet.
"I told him as soon as he gets here, let me know," Tunstall said, "because I'm going to meet him. I have to. We have to."
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