Post by admin on Oct 12, 2008 23:27:04 GMT -5
Michael "Mikey" Friedman
Passed away: 10/5/08
Mikey's Way Foundation
Easton prodigy succumbs to cancer
Passed away: 10/5/08
Mikey's Way Foundation
Easton prodigy succumbs to cancer
EASTON -- Michael "Mikey" Friedman knew his time on earth would be short.
Since the spring of his 15th year, a rare form of cancer, called desmoplastic small round cell tumor, was eating away at his stomach.
Yet Friedman, who went on to become Joel Barlow High School's 2007 valedictorian and gain early entry to Harvard University, was determined to take his plight in stride and use his time, wit and generosity to help others.
He did it with his intelligence gaining early entry to Harvard University and composed a paper on small molecule cancer therapy and did research on cancer drugs.
He did it with his time by creating Mikey's Way Foundation -- a foundation that provided electronic games and toys he delivered to children suffering from cancer.
And he did it with his humor -- turning his illness into silly pranks that first stunned and then brought laughter to his friends and family.
On Sunday, Friedman, 19, whose goal was to find a cure for cancer, died at the Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston, an affiliate of Harvard.
At least 500 people attended his funeral Tuesday at Congregation B'nai Israel, 2710 Park Ave., Bridgeport, and heard his brothers Brian and Peter share his humor.
"We decided it wouldn't be a tribute to Michael if we didn't mention some of his humorous antics," said Brian Friedman. This included a prank his brother played on the family after his first surgery, which was invasive and painful.
He said his brother held up a sign saying "I can't take this anymore. I've got to get it out."
"He then pulled the tube out," Brian Friedman said. "My mother screamed. Peter got queasy and Michael laughed."
They didn't know the tube had been removed the night before.
"Michael convinced a nurse to allow him to use the tube and play a trick on them," said Brian.
"He believed that the way to appreciate life was through humor. We spent a lot of the last few days remembering all the silly little pranks he pulled. It helped us get by."
But more striking was his intelligence.
While in eighth grade, Michael Friedman taught himself calculus. By the time he graduated high school, he understood string theory and quantum physics.
Anne Kipp, his guidance counselor at Barlow and now the school's interim assistant principal, remembers him as a "brilliant student" who "maintained strong friendships;" "an amazing academic record;" "a keen and intelligent interest in his own treatment" and a "unique, slightly whimsical sense of humor."
"Michael was never self-focused on his illness," said Kipp. "Instead he turned his illness into a focus to do more with his life."
In 2005, he helped create Mikey's Way Foundation which has raised at least $250,000. In December 2005, NBC Nightly News did a segment on Friedman and his foundation.
"One of the things he loved about the foundation was being able to deliver the gifts and then spend time with the kids playing the games," said Brian Friedman.
"He'd have a one-on-one conversation with these children on a level that no one who wasn't suffering from cancer could"
Since the spring of his 15th year, a rare form of cancer, called desmoplastic small round cell tumor, was eating away at his stomach.
Yet Friedman, who went on to become Joel Barlow High School's 2007 valedictorian and gain early entry to Harvard University, was determined to take his plight in stride and use his time, wit and generosity to help others.
He did it with his intelligence gaining early entry to Harvard University and composed a paper on small molecule cancer therapy and did research on cancer drugs.
He did it with his time by creating Mikey's Way Foundation -- a foundation that provided electronic games and toys he delivered to children suffering from cancer.
And he did it with his humor -- turning his illness into silly pranks that first stunned and then brought laughter to his friends and family.
On Sunday, Friedman, 19, whose goal was to find a cure for cancer, died at the Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston, an affiliate of Harvard.
At least 500 people attended his funeral Tuesday at Congregation B'nai Israel, 2710 Park Ave., Bridgeport, and heard his brothers Brian and Peter share his humor.
"We decided it wouldn't be a tribute to Michael if we didn't mention some of his humorous antics," said Brian Friedman. This included a prank his brother played on the family after his first surgery, which was invasive and painful.
He said his brother held up a sign saying "I can't take this anymore. I've got to get it out."
"He then pulled the tube out," Brian Friedman said. "My mother screamed. Peter got queasy and Michael laughed."
They didn't know the tube had been removed the night before.
"Michael convinced a nurse to allow him to use the tube and play a trick on them," said Brian.
"He believed that the way to appreciate life was through humor. We spent a lot of the last few days remembering all the silly little pranks he pulled. It helped us get by."
But more striking was his intelligence.
While in eighth grade, Michael Friedman taught himself calculus. By the time he graduated high school, he understood string theory and quantum physics.
Anne Kipp, his guidance counselor at Barlow and now the school's interim assistant principal, remembers him as a "brilliant student" who "maintained strong friendships;" "an amazing academic record;" "a keen and intelligent interest in his own treatment" and a "unique, slightly whimsical sense of humor."
"Michael was never self-focused on his illness," said Kipp. "Instead he turned his illness into a focus to do more with his life."
In 2005, he helped create Mikey's Way Foundation which has raised at least $250,000. In December 2005, NBC Nightly News did a segment on Friedman and his foundation.
"One of the things he loved about the foundation was being able to deliver the gifts and then spend time with the kids playing the games," said Brian Friedman.
"He'd have a one-on-one conversation with these children on a level that no one who wasn't suffering from cancer could"