Published: Wednesday, January 20, 2010
By Sean Dalton, Heritage Newspapers
Dexter's Laurence Carolin, a teenager who had suffered from brain cancer since 2007, died Jan. 15.
Carolin, a 15-year-old Dexter Community Schools student, carved out a unique niche for himself that had little to do with his diagnosis of glioblastoma multiforme – a dangerous type of brain cancer.
Last summer Carolin decided he was going to live a "high quality life" by being an advocate for impoverished people in Africa suffering from AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria.
Carolin was surrounded by family at his home in Scio Township during his final moments, according to his mother, Lisa Carolin.
Earlier this year she told the story of her adopted son and how he took an altruistic course after receiving an opportunity from the Make-A-Wish Foundation to meet the band U2 – particularly Carolin's hero Bono.
When the Foundation discovered that they would not be able to make Carolin's wish happen, they offered him another wish.
He told the Foundation staff to donate the money that had been set aside for his wish to the United Nations Foundation, which is one of Bono's charities of choice.
When Bono heard that Carolin had donated the $5,000 wish fund he decided that he just had to meet Carolin.
On Sept. 12, 2009 Carolin and his parents took a trip to Chicago to attend a U2 concert at Soldier Field courtesy of the One Foundation.
Carolin continued to be an advocate for the sick and starving in Africa, even from his own wheelchair and sick bed.
"We must stand tall," he said in an essay last year. "We must not turn our backs and let this thing called poverty live on, and continue to kill thousands of Africans every day.
"This is our generation's time to get their boots on and start marching. It's our generation's time to get their thinking caps on. It's also our generation's time to use their voice."
Carolin's voice and message has inspired over $20,000 in donations to the United Nations Foundation and other charities, according to his mother.
He also inspired a group of Dexter residents to raise funds for Nothing But Nets, a global grassroots campaign to prevent malaria, which affects 500 million people each year, through $10 donations that went towards the purchase of insecticide-treated bed nets.
"In 2007, my easy life was challenged," Carolin wrote in a letter to Bono. "By opening my eyes to war, poverty and disease around the world, I realized that I was in a position to help make a difference."
He will continue to make a difference thanks to the Carolin family, who have set up a memorial fund to carry on their son's important work. The fund will continue to support the United Nations Foundation.
A service will be held at St. Joseph Catholic Church at 6805 Mast Road at 11 a.m. Saturday.
Another service is planned for 1 p.m. Jan. 24 at the Nie Funeral Home at 3767 W. Liberty Road Ann Arbor.
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