Everybody Has a Story: Green Bank family of teen with cancer makes every minute count

Logan was home-schooled last year. His 18-year-old sister, Ashleigh, joined him.

“She wanted to be with him as much as she could,” Tina said. “Her facebook page is dedicated to him.”

In between surgery to remove some of the brain tumor, radiation and chemotherapy courses, the family has traveled to Hawaii, thanks to the Make a Wish Foundation, and to Texas, where Hunt of a Lifetime gave Logan the experience of elk hunting.

The medical intervention has paid off. Logan’s tumor is stable, and the cancer in his spine has shrunk.

“We knew the radiation was working, because two weeks after it started, he had no more back pain,” Tina said.

The family would like to try some natural treatments that are not covered by insurance, as a supplement to standard medical treatments. To help with the cost of the treatments and travel, the Elwood Volunteer Fire Company in Mullica Township, where Logan attended the Middle School, is raising money for him through its annual William Kennedy Memorial Golf Tournament Oct. 11 at Mays Landing Country Club. (Click here for more Details)

The EVFC splits what it raises each year with a family dealing with serious medical issues and in the last few years has given away $8,000 to $10,500 per year, said organizer John Falciano, of Mullica Township.

Logan’s dad, Vince DeAngelis, is a union carpenter with T.N. Ward, of Atlantic City, which is a $1,000 sponsor of the tournament, Falciano said.

Logan, a junior at Cedar Creek High School in Egg Harbor City, is attending school again. He has a somewhat shortened day, going in at 10:30 a.m. and staying until 2:30 p.m., his mom said. Then he takes two courses with at-home instruction.

“All in all now, I can’t say life’s back to normal. If it were, he’d be playing soccer and going to school full-time, and I’d still be working. But at least we have time to think,” Tina said.

She said people who haven’t dealt with life-threatening illness don’t know what some people go through.

“Our whole world turned upside down in a matter of a half hour,” she said of the day Logan had a CAT scan and the doctors at Children’s Hospital of Pennsylvania told them what he had. “Honestly, it still seems like a dream.”

Scholarship finalist

Mainland Regional High School senior Margaret H. Dods, of Linwood, has been named a 2015 semifinalist in the National Merit Scholarship Program, officials of the National Merit Scholarship Corporation announced Wednesday.

She is one of about 16,000 semifinalists in the nation. About 1.4 million students entered. She will continue in the competition for about 7,600 National Merit Scholarships worth about $33 million.

War dog donations

Ron Aiello, of the U.S. War Dogs Association in Mount Holly, Burlington County, will receive a $200,000 donation from Pet Valu pet stores at noon Oct. 1 during the company’s annual conference at Golden Nugget casino in Atlantic City.

The chain, which has pet stores across Canada and the northeastern U.S., has a location near the Shop-Rite in Somers Point. It sells American flag bandanas as a summer fundraisier every year in support of military working dogs and their handlers who are deployed, Aiello said.

The money will be used to support the War Dogs Association’s programs, including providing cooling vests and other equipment for deployed dogs, and an adoption program and free prescription drug program for retired dogs. Pharmacist Mark Taylor, of Jersey Shore Pharmacy in Egg Harbor Township, who provides the pharmaceuticals at a discount, will be there to accept the check with him, Aiello said.