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Jacyn Brown, sitting, with friends and family, from left: Ed Kirby of Olympia Cycle, UNMC College of Nursing faculty member, Mary Cramer, Ph.D., Brown’s mother, Birdena Bell, and recent nursing graduate, Christine Dortch. |
The former high school football star pedaled the recumbent bike four times around the huge parking lot as family and friends watched on the sidelines.
Although the 26-year-old couldn’t see their smiles, he certainly heard their cheers.
The eight, who gathered that Oct. 6 in the parking lot of Creighton Preparatory High School, made Brown’s wish of riding a bike again come true.
Brown’s medical plight began in May 1997. Just one day after graduating with honors from Creighton Preparatory High School in Omaha, Brown learned he had a brain tumor.
Like any parent, Birdena Bell had high hopes for her son. A high school stand-out in academics and football, Brown was accepted to the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, where he wanted to play football. He also had been accepted into the Summer Institute of Promising Scholars.
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Jacyn Brown gets ready to go for a ride on a recumbent bike with the help of friends. |
A week later, the diagnosis came, but Bell said she had no clue what it meant. “I thought, O.K., there’s a black mass in his head. They can open him up and take it out,” she said.
And they tried as the family’s life began to revolve around Brown’s disease and trips to Mayo Clinic that continued through this July.
“It’s been a journey we did not plan on taking,” Bell said. “I’m learning God has a plan for my son’s life. I had high hopes for Jacyn. He was going to be my neurosurgeon. It’s not turning out that way.”
Except for occasionally seeing objects or colors, Brown sees mostly darkness. He’s had three brain surgeries and radiation. With each surgery, his condition has deteriorated, Bell said.
Now in home hospice, Brown is blind, has slurred speech and memory and cognitive difficulties. He uses a wheelchair and walks short distances with the help of a walker.
“In July, we were told there’s nothing else that can be done,” Bell said. “The tumor that was gone this year in March has returned and is fast-growing.”
Although, the family has had to cope with many challenges, they’ve also been inspired by many people, Bell said. Those who know Brown and his family, however, say they have received the greatest inspiration.
One is Christine Dortch, a recent UNMC nursing graduate, who provided hospice care for Brown this fall.
“Jacyn is absolutely the finest young man you could ever meet,” Dortch said. “He is an inspiration and a joy to all who know him. He jokes all the time and laughs a lot. He’s just such a great guy. If you talk to him or the people who know him, you will know what I mean.”
During one of Dortch’s visits, Brown talked about how difficult it had been to lose his eyesight. He said he dreamed of riding a bike or driving a car so he could once again feel movement and a sense of independence.
The student nurse left that day determined to make Brown’s dream come true. Too old to qualify for Make-A-Wish, Dortch began calling bike shops to locate a recumbent trike.
So inspired was Dortch’s nursing professor, Mary Cramer, Ph.D., that she also got involved.
“We located a man with a recumbent trike who was willing to loan it to our patient to ride. This man was himself down on his luck. He had lost his job and talked at length about what it meant to be able to help someone else. He said that the thought of being able to make someone else happy was inspirational to him and took his mind off his own troubles,” Dr. Cramer said.
Jim Prosser is the man with the bike. “I loved that I was in the position to help. It was fun. I’m glad his nurses pursued this,” Prosser said.
Ed Kirby from Olympia Cycle helped make adjustments to the bike so Brown could ride it.
Dortch and Dr. Cramer phoned Brown’s high school friend, Drew Gerken, to see if he and some of their former Creighton Prep friends were interested in helping.
On Oct. 6, Brown, his family and friends, Drew and Crystal Gerken, Prosser, Kirby, Kim Pagan and Stacey Pierce, met in the parking lot at Creighton Prep.
It’s a day none will ever forget, they said.
“When Jacyn got rolling on that bike, he was having so much fun,” Gerken said. “He rode over a mile in the parking lot. We all thought that was pretty cool.”
Gerken, who played football with Brown, said Brown was a model high school student and son. “He was a leader of the football team, president of the Science Club, member of the Student Council,” Gerken said. “He is everything someone would want in their kid and a friend — the most caring, kind person. He’s the best of the best. He’s also the type of guy who, instead of going to parties with his friends, would stay home and take his sister to the movies.”
While some helped Brown alongside the bike, the rest cheered from the sidelines.
About a week after the ride, Dr. Cramer saw Brown and his mother. “When they saw me, the mother broke out into a huge smile and said, ‘You and your student made our week! You gave us a moment of happiness and we had so much fun,’ ” Dr. Cramer said.
“This was the most amazing day we have had in a long time,” recounted Bell. “Everything was perfect. God truly blessed everyone that was involved. Mary Cramer and Christine Dortch were the masterminds behind this amazing feat.”
Brown said he loved the bike ride and is looking forward to more. “I peddled fast and they had to run to catch up to me,” he said with a laugh. “I want to do it again next year and would like to ride every Saturday.”
Brown’s family and friends had planned a celebration of Brown’s life on Dec. 4, but had to cancel because of Brown’s condition. According to Jim Swanson, a counselor at Creighton Prep who has known Brown since eighth-grade, the benefit event will be rescheduled for Jan. 29 at Creighton Prep campus center from 4 to 7 p.m.
Bell said it’s people like Dortch and Dr. Cramer who keep her going.
“To hear what other people say helps me deal with the loss of the Jacyn that I had before he got sick,” Bell said. “I realize Jacyn has had a positive impact on lot of people, maybe more now than if he’d been a neurosurgeon.”
If you would like to read more about Brown, see www.jacynbrown.com.