Kathryn Lebow
Kathryn (Katie) Lebow is our Hero and the winner of the Inaugural Herbies Heroes Scholarship in the amount of $1000.
Seniors of Orange Park High School (where Herb resided and both of his boys graduated from) were asked to write a 1 page essay on how Cancer has affected them, whether it was a friend or family member that was stricken with this disease, and what they felt they could do individually, to help in the search for a cure. Several of the 2014 graduating Seniors responded to our request, and It means a great deal to our Family that they would take the time to share their personal experience, and we especially appreciate that they are so passionate about making a difference in the search for a cure.
Katie is the executive producer of mass media production at school. Katie is also in band, an officer in the Thespian Honor Society, National Honor Society and Spanish National Honor Society.
Katie’s winning essay:
“My grandfather was diagnosed with Stage 3 Esophageal Cancer in November of 2012 and passed away due to complications from treatment on July 19th, 2013. This may seem unfeeling of me to put this as my very first statement, but it is not. I feel as if the time lapse between November and July, that nine months, is an extremely significant factor in the grief I survive every day. In the time that a new life could be brought into the world, one was ravaged and tormented by this horrifying disease.
My grandfather fought for his life every second after he was diagnosed, and we fought with him. I suffered sleepless nights, anxiety-ridden days, and tear-filled reminiscing; my mother (his daughter) suffered as she tried to give me strength and hold her own. This fight was no where near as painful and detrimental as the fight that my grandfather underwent. He was strong and independent, had never been sick a day in his life, was full of love and advice, and never turned his back on family, and here he was, sitting in a hospital bed with no hair and eighty pounds lighter. He couldn’t eat and he hated having to rely on others to help him with every day tasks such as sitting up and going to the bathroom. Had he been in good health, my grandfather would have been mortified by the dependence he now embodied.
My grandfather was the impetus that urged me onto the career path that I have chosen to follow. He loved nature and could tell you everything about the trees around him and the birds soaring through the air, and this filled me with absolute reverence. I wanted to make him proud. My grandfather lives within my heart and will for my entire life. He made me the independent and motivated young woman that I am today by forcing me to be mature and strong from a young age; much like he did my mother. I am going to Florida State University in order to study Environmental Science until I receive my doctoral degree in this biological science. This would have made my grandfather proud and he would be happy that I haven’t given up because I miss him.
My grandfather would not want anyone to mourn him, much less pity him, he would want us to celebrate the life he led and the impact he left on the hearts of others, and that is exactly what I intend to do.
I plan to help in the search for a cure by studying the environment and finding natural remedies for this debilitating disease that turned my grandfather from a strong black bear into a weak cub. By studying the impact of certain actions on the environment, I can learn of the effects of the environment on people. If I study these interactions, I intend to make developments in the search for a cure. I will search to the ends of the earth for a cure in loving memory of my grandfather and his legacy, just as he would want for the others infected by this tormenting disease.”
She is definitely on her way to doing great things, and this is why she is our June 2014 Hero.