Osteosarcoma is a rare and harsh type of bone cancer that is very common in teens and young adults. It is more likely to be seen in long bones such as arms or legs and it causes pain, swelling, and can potentially cause fractures. This type of cancer usually involves surgery and chemotherapy. Why is this important? A member of our community, Eli Parker, has been diagnosed with osteosarcoma near his knee joint. This has impacted our school and to show our support for him we had a minion out football game and the crowd understood the assignment. He has become a big name in our school; this story is another way of getting the word out.
A little more about Parker: He is a junior at our school and has been a varsity baseball player since he was a freshman. From what I’ve heard, he is super passionate about the things he likes and is a super nice and funny person.
I have talked to a few people from around Timberline and a prior student he knew and asked them to tell me about Parker and who he is to them. These were some of the responses I got.
Firstly, I talked to one of Parker’s closest friends, Dallin Welch, a junior at Timberline. When I was trying to find people to talk to, many people told me Welch is super close to Parker and would be a good choice for the story.
“Eli, Cannon, Vinny, and I have all been best friends since the 8th grade. We all play baseball together which started our friendship and is how we met initially. He’s a super good kid who always puts others before himself,” said Welch.
All the people I talked to were so happy to know Parker and be his friend, and talking to Welch helped me get a feel for Parker’s character. I also talked to Vinny Peters, another junior at Timberline and another person who knows Parker very well.
Peters said, “Eli, Dallin, Cannon, and I all played baseball together and have all been best friends since around 8th grade. Eli is probably the funniest person I know but he isn’t very outgoing so it’s hard to tell until you’re close with him. He was extremely talented at baseball and likely would’ve played college baseball at a high level. He is extremely selfless and doesn’t brag about anything. We were next-door neighbors for about a year. I had moved in next to him after we were already friends and hung out every day but after I moved again we didn’t see each other as much. Even though we weren’t right by each other anymore Eli is the type of person that you can see once a month and still be the same with,” said Peters.
Vinny bringing Eli Chipotle.
The way Peters describes his friendship with Parker is inspiring and shows a great reflection of who Parker is as a person. He talks about him in such a positive light and you can just tell how good of friends they are from all he told me. After Peters, I talked to Haiden Delong, a freshman at the University of Idaho. He knows Parker because they had both played baseball together at Timberline. This is some of what he had to say.
Delong said, “He is a great person, teammate, and friend. He’s got a sense of humor that a lot of the team and his friends like. He works extremely hard when it comes to baseball and made varsity as a freshman and should’ve made varsity again this year. He’s got a good heart and is going to kick cancer’s butt.”
All of what Delong says is super sweet and really demonstrates the impression that Parker leaves on his peers. Lastly, I talked to Riley Unruh, another junior at Timberline and Parker’s girlfriend.
Unruh said, “Eli is my boyfriend of almost 2 years. We started dating in our freshman year when our best friends got close and we’ve been together since then. To me, Eli is my best friend. He means the world to me and has had such a positive impact on my life over the last 2 years. He is the strongest, funniest, most caring, and most amazing person I have ever met. ‘Most amazing person’ is such a vague statement but that’s really who he is in my eyes. He has done so much for me and I can’t describe him in any other way,” said Unruh.
Riley Unruh poses with boyfriend Eli Parker.
Her words are so sweet and heartfelt. I knew right when I decided to write about this, talking to Unruh would have to be included in this story. She truly cares about Parker and her words really show it.
Overall just from talking with these people, you can tell how much Parker means around Timberline. No matter what Parker is going through, he clearly has a strong support system and a good community surrounding him that is always willing to talk and help. Everyone is sending their thoughts and prayers to Parker right now and we are all here for him. He will always have a home in the Wolfpack.
