To the Editor:
One of Dartmouth's best qualities is the diversity of students in our community. This diversity allows people to get to know a vast number of people who they may never have been in contact with before. However, a result of this diversity is that many groups of students become secluded from one another. Athletes, for example, are one of the groups of students that become secluded from others. Many athletes only hang out with people from their team, and when it comes to a sport like football, there are more than enough friends to choose from because there are 100 people on the team.
The reason I bring this up is that one of Dartmouth's football players and a brother of Gamma Delta Chi -- Michael Shannon -- has been at DHMC for the past week fighting a very serious infection. What was first thought to be a minor blood infection that could easily be treated turned very serious when in the early hours of Thursday morning Mike went through a very difficult and grave series of events which almost took him from us. Fortunately, Mike -- being a starter on the football team -- was too strong for the infection and proved to be resilient beyond belief, and he fought through the tough times.
As Mike was struggling Thursday afternoon, his fraternity brothers and team members rushed over to the GDX house and immediately began praying for Mike for over two hours. Ever since then, Mike has been getting better and better everyday thanks to the endless support of his parents, Dr. and Mrs. Shannon, and friends.
You can only imagine the impact that an unexpected event like this can have on the parents of their child. In an effort to give Dr. and Mrs.. Shannon some time to rest, the brothers of GDX and other members of the football team have volunteered to take hour-long shifts from 9 PM till 9 AM every evening. Although most of the time Mike is resting and cannot communicate because of the medication he is on, it is definitely a treat when you take a shift and he is awake.
Now for those of you who don't know Mike -- and I'm sorry if you don't -- you have to realize that he has a very unique sense of humor, and nothing, not even a hospital or the ICU can stop Mike from cracking jokes. In the ICU, Mike has had a few machines that help him breathe and take food into his body and he has been unable to talk. He can however hear everything that we say to him. So instead of talking, he writes on a clipboard.
When Mike asked his father, "how long have I been here?" his father replied, "in the hospital?" and Mike immediately responded by writing, "No, China."
Obviously for people who don't know Mike, you probably wouldn't think that was funny, but to all of us that do, it was absolutely classic. And it shows you how tough and strong a person Mike really is. Imagine that you've been in a hospital for a week, have gone through the toughest and most traumatic events you might ever have to experience -- not be able to get up out of your bed -- but through it all, still have a sense of humor through everything. That shows everyone the type of man Mike Shannon is, and it reassures all of us that he most definitely is going to make it through this.
The Shannon family and all of the brothers of GDX and the football program would like to ask everyone reading this to remember Mike in your prayers. And if anyone wants to visit Mike in the hospital, blitz Chris Little, and we'll arrange for you to be added to the list. A doctor at DHMC recently told one of the players who was visiting Mike that he had "never seen so many young people come in and visit a patient," and that Mike's steady improvement has been a result of all the support.
Through all of Mike's sufferings, the pain, the medication and the discomfort, he still finds ways to show how genuine of a person he is. When Rich Walton '06 and I recently went to visit him, he wrote to us as we were leaving, "thanks for coming guys, I really appreciate it." All this coming from a kid who has experienced more pain than we might ever feel in our lives! All of us have this to say to you Mike: "No Mike, we appreciate you. We appreciate everything you have given to us and all you have taught us throughout the time you've been battling this infection. There's nothing we wouldn't do for you, because we know you'd be there for us if we were in your spot. All of us love and pray for you everyday, keep fighting bud and you'll be back here in no time."
