The Golden Goal

Imagine being in high school. Imagine receiving a scholarship to play soccer at the collegiate level. Imagine having the grapefruit sized tumor in your chest diagnosed as cancer and putting everything aside to prepare to battle for your life.
Kelli Murphy, the blue-eyed backup goalie, is in her second year at Georgia College & State University, and for her this was reality.
She is now in the beginning stages of a five-year remission period for Hodgkin’s disease. Hodgkin’s disease, also known as Hodgkin’s lymphoma, is a cancer that originates in the lymphatic tissue.
The cancer was discovered when she was 17, and radiation treatment began the May before her senior year at McIntosh High School in Peachtree City, Ga. Once treatment began, priorities changed.
“At the time, I just wanted to get over it, do whatever I could, and it ended up being this long drawn out thing. Soccer was at the bottom of my list,” said Murphy. “I still sat on the bench at high school during my senior year. My intention was to come back, to play at least one game; that was my goal.”
The process was especially tough on the Murphy family because Kelli’s mother Vicki had recently passed away after battling multiple sclerosis. Nevertheless, the family was determined to fight, and Kelli’s father was extremely supportive.
“Watching my mom deal with her illness really helped me. She never complained, so I tried to live up to her standards. My dad told me ‘don’t complain or feel sorry for yourself, just do what you got to do,’ ” said Kelli. “I guess my dad would be my biggest support.”
The radiation treatment was successful, but Murphy said that there would always be scar tissue inside her chest, left over from the tumor.
“Whenever I get a chest x-ray they will see things there that shouldn’t be there,” said Murphy. “The shell of the tumor is still there.”
Murphy was medically cleared to play on the inaugural women’s soccer team at GC&SU, and had a little difficulty returning.
“Getting back in shape was the hardest part. I was sitting on my butt for two years. I wasn’t allowed to do anything, and you are so weak you could really care less,” said Murphy. “It’s been really hard with my strength and fitness. My heart rate is very high from non-activity, and my legs are really weak compared to what they use to be.”
Over the off-season she plans on doing lots of weight training in hopes of resurrecting her lost strength. Strength in the legs is especially important for a soccer player.
“Doing a lot of kicking has been an important thing. Since I am a goalkeeper I have to do goal kicks, and they have to go a certain distance. I just can’t do it yet,” Murphy said.
Head Coach Robert Parr has been supportive of Murphy and admires her fortitude.
“Overcoming cancer is more ambitious than anything we will do on the field. Obviously we had to be patient, and it might take a few years before Kelli can get to being a cutting edge athlete,” said Parr. “She is doing great and is getting stronger by the day.”
The experience has helped shape Murphy into the person that she is now. She is open and willing to divulge information about her illness.
“I don’t talk about it unless someone asks. I am very open to talk about it. I don’t care. I like sharing what I know because I have a lot of friends who have had parents that have gotten sick. They are just curious. If I am able to ease their worries instead of sugarcoating it, then that is great,” Murphy said.
Oftentimes experiences such as Murphy’s can make others perceive the person as weak and in need of continual assistance. Murphy described herself as an independent person who likes doing things her own way, but special treatment was sometimes necessary when she stepped back onto the soccer field.
“If Rob [Parr] had not given me special treatment at the beginning, then I would have had a tough time. I am almost passing out because I am almost out of breath. I think sometimes they [coaches] do have to [give special treatment], but I don’t like it because it makes me feel weak,” Murphy said.
Murphy overcame her obstacle, but now she is facing a different problem.
“I feel alienated from most people. I have seen and experienced things that are different. Not that that makes me better. It just makes you feel like no one really gets it. It’s hard when I am struggling on the team and no one really knows why or notices. It makes you feel awkward,” Murphy said.
Over the summer, Murphy hopes to put her willingness to discuss her illness to use.
“I was flipping through the channels and I saw Lance Armstrong, so I stopped to hear what he was talking about. There is an organization called Camp Sunshine, which is in the suburbs of Atlanta. It is a camp for kids who are sick, and for some reason I really want to do that this summer,” said Murphy.
Overcoming something as devastating as cancer has helped Murphy re-evaluate how she views the world.
“I appreciate the little things. I mean stupid stuff, stuff people would laugh at, like a pretty day like today where I can sit outside in the sun and it just brings a smile to my face,” Kelli said. “The little things you never thought you could do again when you are sick, they thought I was going to die, so the little things I appreciate, like eating. There were times I couldn’t eat.”
Murphy fought a battle no one ever wants to have to encounter. Imagine overcoming cancer and being able to then compete at the collegiate level. Imagine having death seem so close. Imagine being Kelli Murphy.

Posted by Colonnade Archives on Jan 23 2004. Filed under News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry