Justin Whitaker, a North Stafford High School junior, takes part in baseball practice. Justin has been diagnosed with cancer and is undergoing chemotherapy. He's making a strong recovery because he is athletic and in good shape. ROBERT A. MARTIN/THE FREE LANCE-STAR View More Images from this story Visit the Photo Place

Community rallies to help ball player

When a popular North Stafford High School baseball player got cancer, the school community stepped up to help him

Date published: 2/27/2007

By CATHY DYSON

Justin Whitaker has taken some powerful drugs to kill his cancer, but baseball probably has been the best medicine.

The 17-year-old has dreamed of being a professional as long as he can remember, and almost every picture in his house is a baseball print, signed by a famous player.

Justin was poised to become a starter on the North Stafford High School varsity squad when a string of bad news benched him.

He blew out his knee--twice--but still hobbled to every practice.

Soon after he recovered, he found a lump on his neck that turned out to be T-cell lymphoma. The aggressive cancer affects cells that fight infection.

"He went from being a potential starter as a sophomore to a kid sitting in the children's cancer unit, all in a matter of three months," said Jim Labrusciano, head coach of the North Stafford baseball team. "But not once did it faze him. He took the attitude, 'It's not gonna beat me.'

"I've been impressed with how he's handled everything."

Apparently, so has the North Stafford community.

Fellow baseball players, as well as teachers and students Justin never met, rallied. They visited him in the hospital--to the point nurses had to shoo them away--and raised money.

Justin had to be home-schooled the first five months of this school year. When he returned to school on Jan. 30, more than 150 students and adults greeted him with shirts that read, "Welcome Back Justin."

The dark blue shirts have the Superman logo because of a nickname Justin earned at Inova Fairfax Hospital.

Doctors were trying to draw bone marrow, but had trouble getting needles into Justin's hip bones.

The pain was severe, but Justin kept smiling. He lifted his gown to show his Superman boxers--and people have been calling him the "Man of Steel" ever since.

His attitude is just as strong.

"I don't sit in my room and think about the bad things," Justin said. "I try to think of all the good things, like I'm still alive, and I can still play baseball."

Justin showed up for ball practice in the fall, a few months after his June diagnosis.

Sometimes, all he could do was take a few swings. His coach said he's grown stronger every day, and Justin made the varsity team last week.

Getting back to baseball has been Justin Whitaker's main concern since he was diagnosed with cancer in June. His port--a device implanted in the chest and used to take in fluids or medicine--was put on the right side so Justin could bat safely. If it were on the other side and got hit with a ball, Justin could suffer internal bleeding, said his father, Craig. His "PIC line," an intravenous tube, went in Justin's left arm so it wouldn't interfere with throwing. The outfielder has doctor's permission to play baseball as long as he wears a protective wrap around the port and refrains from sliding head-first. Justin's favorite player is Mickey Mantle. He's worn No. 7 in his honor for years, including the season he was inducted into the American Youth Baseball Hall of Fame. Once a week, Justin Whitaker gets an "EPO injection" to keep his red-blood cell count from dropping too low. EPO stands for erythropoietin, a natural hormone. The experimental treatment costs $3,100 a pop. Insurance covers 70 percent, which means the Whitakers pay more than $900 a week for this one shot. North Stafford High School started an account to help with mounting expenses. Donations can be sent to the Justin Whitaker Cancer Fund at the school, 839 Garrisonville Road, Stafford, Va. 22554.

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Date published: 2/27/2007