26.5.09

Dexter student passes on Make-a-Wish donations to the United Nations Foundation to treat patients in Africa
by Jo Mathis | The Ann Arbor News
Tuesday May 26, 2009, 10:52 AM



In the basement of his Scio Township home, Laurence Carolin, 14, plays guitar next to a poster customized with cutout pictures of U2 singer Bono superimposed over the members of Led Zeppelin.

As long as he can remember, Laurence Carolin, 14, has wanted to meet members of his favorite band, U2, and its lead singer, Bono.

For a while last year, for a very sad reason, he thought his dream might come true.

The Dexter Middle School eighth-grader was diagnosed with an inoperable brain tumor in December 2007 and was given the chance to make a wish through the Make-a-Wish Foundation.

Could he meet Bono? he wondered.

When he learned that a meeting could not be arranged, Laurence quickly came up with Plan B.

He asked Make-a-Wish to give the money it would have spent on him to the United Nations Foundation to treat AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria patients in Africa. That happens to be a charity that Bono supports.

Who knows? Now, maybe Bono will want to meet Laurence.

"I was dealt these cards, and I have to play them out, the best I can," said Laurence, sitting in his Scio Township home wearing one of his many soccer jerseys. "What keeps me going are my great friends, and music, and the hope that more people would be aware of what's happening in Africa and what can be de done. I believe extreme poverty in Africa is a totally doable thing to overcome."

It's unusual for a child's wish to be so altruistic, said Susan Lerch, president and CEO of the Make-A-Wish Foundation of Michigan.

"The fact that a teenager would come up with something like this is extraordinarily beautiful," she said, "and tremendously generous that his wish is to make a positive difference in the lives of others who are facing tremendous hardship and difficulties."

His prognosis isn't good. He has glioblastoma multiforme, the most aggressive type of brain cancer. Few patients survive longer than three years.

Laurence is 5-foot-7 and 104 pounds. Even after two operations, intensive radiation therapy and chemotherapy, he learned through a recent MRI that his tumor has was growing again. After shrinking last year from the size of a baseball, it doubled in three months to the size of plum.

Laurence has decided he's going for quality of life over quantity. He's vowed not to spend the time he has left feeling sick from treatment if he doesn't see progress.

Laurence's doctor recently presented him with the choice of trying a different combination of chemotherapy drugs or not doing anything. The teenager said he'd be willing to try the new drugs for three months. He starts the new treatment this week.

His mother, Lisa, said that's because he was feeling fairly well. Feeling wiped out has become the norm.

Korean-born, Laurence Carolin was adopted when he was 5 months old. His adoptive father now lives in Tennessee. Lisa Carolin is a reporter for the Livingston Community News, a publication of The Ann Arbor News.

"I could be living a much less fortunate life," Laurence said. "If I was living in a poorer country that's not developed, I'd be dead by now."

As it is, he's hanging in there, making the most of every day he has left.

"I'm a balding 14-year-old," he said, joking about the results of chemotherapy. "How often does that happen?

Last year a Community Service and Leadership class at Mill Creek Middle School wanted to ask for donations for Laurence. He asked the class to do a food drive for the nonprofit Faith in Action instead.

"There's been a wonderful outpouring of support from the Dexter community," said Lisa Carolin.

Regular homemade meals arrived at the house for six months until the grateful Carolins asked for them to stop. "People just want to be able to do something," Lisa Carolin said.

Dexter Community Schools provide a tutor who visits a couple times a week. While Laurence doesn't often make it to school now, he's played soccer for the Dexter Soccer Club. He plays his guitar for hours, and enjoys cooking healthy meals for his mom and friends even when he doesn't have an appetite himself.

It was during his depression that Laurence did a lot of research on hunger.

"This cancer's knocked me off my feet, of course, but it's let me discover suffering in another perspective, especially in Asia and South Africa," Laurence said. "Before cancer came my way, I was living life on a highway. It was really predictable life. I was almost blinded to what happens outside the United States.

"Death isn't a big deal to me. It's just another part of life. Some people die earlier than others. ... I can accept dying, but I don't want to die before there's an end to extreme poverty in Africa."

Anyone wishing to make a contribution in Laurence Carolin's name to the United Nations Foundation may call Make-a-Wish at 734-994-8620 and ask for Sharon Ceci. Jo Mathis can be reached at jmathis@annarbornews.com or 734-994-6849.

source: mlive

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