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A tribute to dad |
Eleven-year-old Victoria Thompson
raises money in the name of her father, who died when she was 5 |
By Schellene
Clendenin, Newberg
Graphic reporter
E-mail Schellene at
sclendenin@eaglenewspapers.com
|
What Victoria Thompson misses most about her dad is being able to
get piggyback rides from him or go to the movies like other girls do
with their dads.
Victoria’s dad, Troy, succumbed to Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis —
also known as Lou Gehrig’s disease — when she was 5 years old after
he struggled with it for two-and-a-half years longer than doctors
predicted he would.
The little girl, who once rode with her father on his wheelchair
around the house after he became paralyzed, watched movies with him
on his computer and read to him in bed, is doing her part to raise
awareness for the rare disease through fund-raising efforts at her
school.
She talked to her teacher and her counselor at Mabel Rush
Elementary and asked if she could go to classes asking students for
money she could send to the local ALS chapter. She hoped the money,
when pooled with other donations, could be used in research to
prevent and cure the disease.
“We got a big jug and we put it out in the front hall for people to
put money in,” she said.
Victoria raised $45 from her fellow classmates and was asked to
present the money at an annual Beavers Baseball game held in honor
of those who have contracted the disease.
With donations from friends and family members Victoria raised a
total of $900 to present to ALS at the Portland Beavers baseball
game and celebration of Lou Gehrig’s birthday June 19.
“It was fun; I was nervous (because) there were 10,000 people
there,” she said.
“Our plan was to hand the money over to the local ALS chapter,”
Marilyn, Victoria’s mother, said. But in the end, they handed the
check over to ALS at the Portland Beavers baseball game.
Victoria, her mom and her older sister stood on top of the dugout
and told the gathered crowd how and why she had raised the money —
and a little bit about her dad.
The crowd gave her a standing ovation and the team signed a
baseball for her.
Troy Thompson’s absence in the lives of his family hurts because he
can’t be with them when they need him, Victoria said, adding that
since her father’s death, the family has worked to help people cope
with the loss.
Victoria said though she didn’t know her dad long, people tell her
often how wonderful he is and how much he loves her.
Troy Thompson died at the age of 36 from ALS, stated Marilyn. His
symptoms began when he was 32, shortly after Victoria was born. At
that time Troy was a landscaper who loved to water ski and was an
amateur photographer.
Marilyn said the family was notified that Troy had Lou Gehrig’s
disease shortly before Victoria’s first birthday, and because of
that, Victoria had never known her father when he wasn’t ill. By the
time she was a little more than 2-years-old, Victoria’s father was
completely paralyzed and bedridden. The only way he could
communicate was through a computer, typing with his big toe.
Victoria grew up in a household with round-the-clock caregivers and
health care professionals at the home. “As she gets older she’s
understanding more about what an amazing man her father was and how
many lives he touched and changed by his strong faith and courage,”
Marilyn wrote in an e-mail.
“At that young age you don’t prepare (kids for loss) and we didn’t
know how long he would live,” Marilyn said. “He outlived the
doctor’s prediction. We always held out hope that maybe there’d be
breakthrough in research.”
And they depended on the power of prayer. “We never gave up hope for
a miraculous healing,” she said.
As Victoria gets older, she feels a loss, Marilyn said. “She
recognizes that other people have dads and she doesn’t. She feels
that empty spot.”
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From July 28,
2004, Newberg Graphic
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