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Born
on November 16, 1984, Justin LeFevre will be remembered
always by those who knew him. A fun loving kid with a
beautiful smile, Justin made the most of his time on
earth.
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| As a child
growing up in rural Lancaster County, Pennsylvania. Justin was
an adventurous boy with an endless imagination. He loved playing
with friends and spending time outdoors. He loved to travel,
which led to horseback riding and parasailing. When his
grandfather was looking for someone to accompany him on a hot
air balloon ride, Justin was eager to go, soaring over the
fields of Lancaster County. |
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As he
grew older he took up dirt bike riding and became an avid
hunter. Perhaps his greatest passion, however, was the
game of football. At the age of eight and entering second
grade at Smoketown Elementary school in the Conestoga
Valley School District, Justin enrolled in the Conestoga
Valley midget football program. |
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| He spent six
years as a running back and linebacker in the midget football
program. One of his many highlights included his first year
on the B team when his team won the Red Rose league
championship. |
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At the
age of fourteen, the summer before his freshman year of
high school, Justin began working as a ride operator at
Dutch Wonderland amusement park. He enjoyed working and
hanging out with his friends. At the end of the summer,
he again resumed football practice, this time playing on
the Conestoga Valley Junior High team. He excelled at
linebacker and running back, filled in at safety when
injuries depleted that position, and even took a few snaps
at quarterback at the conclusion of one game. |
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Justin's freshman year at Conestoga Valley High School was
an enjoyable one. He loved school, loved hanging out with
his friends, and dreamed about the day when he would be a
senior. The summer after his freshman year of high school,
Justin again worked as |
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| a ride
operator at Dutch Wonderland. He was in the weight room three
times a week preparing for his first year on the high school
football team. In August he put his summer job behind him and
began three-a-day football practices. Justin was loving it.
He had goals. He wanted to play varsity football. |
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On
September 18, just four weeks into the school year, Justin was
hit with news that would change his life forever. He was
experiencing pain in his buttocks. He played hard on the
football field, and often endured bumps and bruises. But this
time something felt different. His doctor requested an MRI.
The test revealed a tumor the size of a football growing in
his pelvis. Justin was admitted to Penn State Hershey Medical
Center for further tests.
Later that week Justin was told he had cancer. He had a
malignancy from the Ewing's sarcoma family of tumors in his
pelvis. Due to the size and location of his tumor, Justin's
doctors were unable to give him any assurance as to their
ability to cure him.
Justin took the news well, and vowed that he would beat the
cancer. After a long week of tests, he struggled home on a
Friday evening, in time to meet his football team on the field
at halftime of an important game against Elizabethtown High
School. Justin's team was down by a touchdown at halftime.
In the second half they turned the game around and posted a
victory. Justin watched from the sidelines on crutches.
Following the game his coach presented him with the game ball. |
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| Several
weeks later Justin returned to the hospital to begin
difficult chemotherapy treatments. Every third Wednesday
he was hospitalized for three to five days as the medicine
flowed through his body. Justin's spirits remained high.
He was an inspiration to many. He did his best to keep up
with his schoolwork and lead a normal life. In November
he traveled to the mountains to hunt deer and successfully
harvested a buck. Despite his weak condition, he insisted
on removing his deer from the woods on his own. |
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In the
spring of 2001, midway through his chemotherapy treatments, he
learned that the medicine was working. His tumor had shrunk
and doctors felt now was the time to operate. Successful
surgery removed what was left of the tumor. Justin was
optimistic as always, but still had a long way to go. He
began twenty-eight straight days of radiation treatments, at
the same time resuming his chemotherapy.
By
the summer of 2001, Justin could see the end of his
treatments. He was attending summer school between
chemotherapy treatments, and was determined as ever to play
football. He traveled with the team to camp at East
Stroudsburg University, and in August attended three-a-day
practices, missing only for scheduled chemotherapy. Justin
took it slow at first and was beginning to get his strength
back. His goal was to play. |
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After
several weeks of practice he developed pain in his knee.
Doctors attributed it to his many months of inactivity,
unrelated to his cancer. The pain however, got worse.
Justin played in his team's first two scrimmages, but by
the time the season opened he stood on the sidelines in
uniform, unable to play due to the pain in his knee.
Doctors again ordered an MRI and discovered the worst; the
cancer had spread to the bone above his knee. |
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| Justin didn't
give up. He tried a new type of chemotherapy, and when that
didn't work he tried a third program. But the pain only got
worse. Doctors could give him no good news. Faced with the
reality of death, Justin plowed on, attending school as much
as possible, and smiling when he could. He took up guitar
playing. |
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All
the while Justin's faith in God did not waiver. He knew
that if his time was up, he would live eternally in the
Kingdom of Heaven, but he did not understand why God would
want to end his life so quickly.
By Thanksgiving, Justin's pain had continued to progress
and was quite severe.
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| He nevertheless
spent time in the woods hunting and enjoying the outdoors. In
December he resumed radiation treatments in an attempt to
manage the pain. New Years Eve was spent with loyal friends
who had visited him countless times at the hospital. |
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On
January 15, 2002, at the age of seventeen, Justin said
goodbye. He lived a life of courage and dignity. Despite
intense pain during the last few weeks of his life, he
frequently pulled himself together to visit with friends,
and tried to maintain a normal life for those around him.
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| The day of his
death, Justin knew it was time. He requested the presence of
his families and a few of his closest friends, and shared a
last breath with them. |
