Gone too soon

Rush said he talked with Shay’s father the day after his passing and relayed the news to his players.

“We did have a brief talk with some of them. They were definitely in shock,” Rush said.

“I was shocked to find out. We knew he was sick, but not really sick,” Nowak confessed.

The news hit his high school community hard as well.

“No one in our program knew. It was total shock,” Williams offered. “I had a little inkling something was wrong. During the season I didn’t see him in the boxscore.

“It’s terrible. It’s the C word again,” Williams said. “Unfortunately we all know people and we all have people in our lives that have battled that. It’s a tough pill to swallow.”

The toughest thing is knowing that if detected early, neuroendocrine cancer is treatable and manageable. Lombard and Spevak said it is the family’s desire to help spread the word to teens and young adults in hope that what happened to Shay won’t happen to others. They have passed along links to websites that can educate you on neuroendocrine and colorectal cancer.

“They want to get word out that Shay’s type of cancer, as well as colorectal cancer, can indeed occur in teens and young adults,” Spevak said. “Often times it’s mistaken for other things, like IBS or Crohn’s, or even being a stressed out college student.

“They want to urge the youth to know about their family medical history, and to let someone know when something is going on with their body — or a friend’s — that isn’t typical.”