August of 2007 started out like any other. It signaled the end of Sean’s baseball season and the beginning of another football season. He would be #10 for the third year in a row representing his sports hero Brady Quinn. He earned the starting cornerback position on defense and the starting tailback position on offense. He was scoring touchdowns and extra points on offense and running down ball carriers on defense – he was having the time of his life.

Then something began to happen, he told us about pains in his back. He could take the aches and pains of playing hard but this was something different. He would end up in the emergency room in the middle of the night where they would give him shots of steroids and morphine. The next day, he would insist on practicing if it was a weekday or starting both ways in the game if it was a Saturday- he refused to let anything get in the way of his love of sports. We saw specialist after specialist as the pains worsened hoping one of them would find the assumed back injury which we figured had happened in the course of playing football.

When Sean woke up on a Sunday in October, he planned to get out of bed, play with friends, and of course...watch the Bears. As he got out of bed and went to stand up he dropped to the floor and realized he could not move his right leg- at all. We immediately rushed him downtown to Children’s Memorial where an MRI revealed a Rhabdoid Tumor in his spinal cavity. Since then, it was devastation, radiation, chemo, ups, downs, faith, hope and prayer.

We wanted to give you some background on Sean so that you see how much he has inspired us over the years. He never let anything stand in the way of his goals. He fought day in and day out only now it was cancer instead of a bigger or faster player. He took the same approach. He never looked at the days’ challenge as a loss or a setback. He took each day and did whatever he needed to do to fight cancer. He didn’t complain about it and even if the treatments made him sick, he still insisted on getting out there and living his life.

Jill and I wanted more than anything to fight the battle for him, but instead we could only fight it with him. Many of you made the decision to join us in fighting with him. We did this by getting him the best possible care and medicines, by being there as a family to comfort him on his most difficult days, by refusing to ever stop looking for a cure and by putting our faith in God that He would find a way for Sean to be healed. Each of you, by making the decision to participate in an opportunity to raise funds for Sean’s fight allowed us to continue to provide Sean with the best care. You enabled us to look for the best possible medicines available without having to deny him a drug that could cure him based on cost.

Dream Flight Nov '08

You made it possible for both Jill & I to be there together at the hospital with him on his most difficult days. Each of you played a part in allowing us to continue to search for a cure no matter where it was. We researched the newest available drugs being used in trials throughout the world and due to your help, we were able to  look into any possibility and if it was deemed by our doctors to give him an advantage in the fight, we could have taken him anywhere on the globe if it meant a chance at a cure. Each of your prayers and petitions to God gave Sean strength and asked in a louder voice, through all of our friends and family, that God show mercy upon Sean.

Even with all of this support, the tumors continued to spread and eventually his body could not fight anymore. In the end, on March 18th, 2009, God asked that Sean join Him and forever be our guardian angel. Each day is a difficult one, but we try to remember that he was at peace when he passed and that he is better off being with God where there is no illness, no suffering- only peace. We try to remember his courage and focus on fighting rather than mourning. We hope that

Sean will inspire others to keep up the fight with us as we fight for those who continue to battle cancer today.

On Sean’s behalf we would like to thank each and every one of you for the role you played in fighting with Sean. Whether you helped organize an event, donated items or services or venues, whether you donated time or money, or inspired others to due so, if you have kept Sean in your thoughts and prayers, if you have taken the time to let Sean’s fight make a difference in your life by taking a step back and living each day more fully- we thank you. God Bless each

and every one of you. We are blessed to have so many wonderful friends.

God Bless,

John, Jill, (Sean), Abbey and Aidan Duggan