Post by nu5ncbigred on Jan 25, 2015 1:49:38 GMT -5
Saturday is #AveryStrong Day with Nebraska hosting Michigan State in a 3:10 p.m. Big Ten matchup of likeable head coaches who look at the world beyond their seats on the bench. ESPN cameras will point to a Big Red student section wearing gold t-shirts to support Avery Harriman, the 7-year-old son of Nebraska assistant coach Chris Harriman. Avery is a compelling story, and we have asked Chris to help us describe what the family has been through since Avery was first diagnosed with leukemia as a 2-year-old. But make no mistake. The Harriman family shares their trials, tribulations and triumphs primarily for one very simple reason – to help create awareness for other families fighting the same fight and to help find donors that can help families embrace their challenges with courage, clear their hurdles with hope and move their mountains with faith.
Please join my conversation with Chris Harriman:
Q: Your life has revolved around Avery at home and in the hospital fighting pediatric cancer every day of the week. How would you describe what you’ve gone through?
A: It’s been a really difficult couple of years. From a family perspective, I’m not sure you could really explain it in words… going through two (bone marrow) transplants and seeing your son fight for his life…it’s just one of the most difficult things you could do because you feel helpless at times. You just wish you could take away the pain and suffering he’s going through. We are fortunate to have such incredible doctors and nurses, such an amazing support group, not only on this staff and at the University, but throughout the entire state. We hope that something good is going to come out of all of this. That’s one of the big reasons we’re trying to create as much awareness and educate people on pediatric cancer and leukemia and bone marrow transplants. We value the opportunity, and we’ve learned a lot from our experiences. Hopefully, what we’ve learned can help us teach others and help them in trying to save kids’ lives.
Q: Do you ever just take a deep breath and ask how did we get through all of this?
A: Yes, and I would be really remiss if I didn’t talk about my wife Cheryl and what she’s done for our family. Obviously, I have a very demanding job that takes a lot of time. I’m away, in terms of traveling for recruiting and for games. That’s a difficult thing, and my wife has been not only a mother, but also a nurse to Avery. She’s also his home teacher, and we have two other children as well. We would not be where we are right now if it wasn’t for her. I don’t think we would be where we are if we weren’t in such a great place with so many great people. I can’t even begin to tell you how helpful Janelle Boehm (wife of Nebraska executive associate athletic director Marc Boehm) has been. She has basically adopted my children and become, essentially, the grandmother in terms of helping look after my two daughters while we’re in and out of the hospital. We have so many people to thank, including Coach Miles and his family and everyone on staff. It’s truly been amazing how many people have stepped forward to help. I’ve said it to you before, but we are truly blessed to be in a place like this. I don’t know how we’ve gotten through it all. You just wake up and keep going. No other choice. You look back on the times when you were in the hospital and some really, really difficult times. Hopefully, as we go forward in this, we have a little bit more perspective on the value of everyday and being around family.
Q: Saturday is an important Big Ten game, but it’s also an obvious chance to create awareness for pediatric cancer. What do you expect and why’s it important?
A: I don’t know the exact protocol of what they’re going to do or how it will all set up. I just know that Kristin Eichorst (wife of director of athletics Shawn) and Marc Boehm have been really working hard to spearhead this thing. Basically, it’s part of the NABC Suits and Sneakers Awareness Week. Obviously, we’re teaming up with the American Cancer Society to promote not only bone marrow donor drives to fight cancer, but also to raise awareness and hopefully have some other guests there. The bone marrow registry is something that very few people are aware of. We were fortunate enough to have a match for Avery. I’ve said this to everybody that will listen. The registry is not big enough, so we’re encouraging students and we’re encouraging fans to try and help these kids that are battling pediatric cancer. We’re not only learning more about the national bone marrow donor program, but also asking for fans to have a cheek swab. Anybody who’s age 18 to 44 can do a quick cheek swab. That can enable us to expand the registry and hopefully give kids a great option. I’ve seen enough kids die because they aren’t able to have a match. That’s a difficult thing. When you talk about kids with different backgrounds, sometimes their chances of having a successful donor is almost zero. That’s not fair and that’s not right. I want to try and expand this registry and really try to drive this thing to get as many people signed up as possible. They don’t have to be at Saturday’s game to be a donor. They can jump on "Be the Match's" website and sign up. That doesn’t commit you to anything. It just commits you to be an option, and that’s important.
Q: Take us back to this month's win over Illinois. Was inviting Avery to be part of the press conference a spur-of-the-moment decision or was it pre-planned?
A: It was amazing, something I wasn’t even aware was going to happen. The game finished, and I brought Avery in the locker room, where the guys presented him the game ball. Everybody signed the ball and that was really, really neat. Shamus (McKnight, Nebraska men’s basketball sports information director) and Shavon just grabbed Avery and took him into the press room. I wasn’t sure what was going on, but I grabbed my wife and we got into the back of the room.
Q: It was an impromptu up-close and personal look at your son communicating his thoughts to Husker Nation. What was going through your mind and Cheryl’s mind?
A: To watch Avery handle that was something we’ll never forget. I promise you we’re not doing press conference tutoring at our house. He just handled it like he’s been there many a time before. To stand there and watch him…it was just really emotional for both of us. Seeing Avery smile is important. Seeing him be around somebody like Shavon was just neat, and it was natural. It wasn’t something that was forced. It wasn’t something that was organized. It just happened. We received all kinds of text messages and emails and phone calls. As parents, for a very short, brief period of time, you just take a deep breath and smile and enjoy the moment. It was so much fun for everyone. We were really proud and so thankful of everyone involved.
Q: What is it about Tim Miles that enables toughness on and off the court? Does this team see a metaphor in the toughness they try to show game in and game out?
A: I think it’s the type of character we have in our program…the type of people we have and the leadership. You know, Coach Miles is a guy who definitely wasn’t gift wrapped in this job. He’s taken many a tough job before he got to this point. So I think a lot of it stems from him being the fighter he is. I don’t know a whole lot, but I know in my short time how much the state of Nebraska and our fans appreciate hard work and how much they appreciate people who are willing to fight for what they get. We are not the most talented team. We are not full of McDonald’s All-Americans. We are not blessed with incredible shooting ability or amazing depth. But you can bet on the integrity of your kids and the character of your guys.
Q: There’s so much tradition and so much inherent pressure in Big Ten baskeball, yet so many meaningful goals that seem to go beyond the final score. Is that accurate?
A: In some respects. Avery and Terran’s mom (Joetta Petteway) are both fighting through cancer, and that truly helps our guys gain perspective on what’s really important. You know, it’s a basketball game. It’s not life; it’s a game, but you need to treat it and respect it and respect the people who pay a lot of money to come and watch our games.
Q: How do you measure the progress of this team in its second year in PBA?
A: As this thing progresses, we get better every year. I think that you’re going to have to play really well to beat us because we’re not going to give it to you. We’re going to fight for it. We’ve had our ups and downs and we’ve struggled early on this year but I’ve seen this team starting to form and come together. Everybody says ‘well that was an ugly win’…well, I’ll take an ugly win over a pretty loss any day of the week. It’s our identity. We preach that to our guys – there is nothing wrong with winning low-scoring games or winning tough games like Minnesota on Tuesday night. Winning is what you’re ultimately trying to accomplish. You can run up and down, which is kind of what we did against Indiana. We went away from our identity and lost that game. As this program grows, I don’t think that’s going to be the case long term.
Q: Right now, this team has no choice but to scratch and claw for everything it earns. What do you expect, bottom line, from this team this season and the seasons ahead?
A: I believe in our kids and I believe in their fight. Fighting for a life is a lot more important than fighting for a win, but this team will give you everything they have. Basketball and cancer are in completely different hemispheres, but I think this team has become a bunch of fighters and seems to draw a lot of energy from Avery and kids just like him who are fighting so hard themselves. I hope we inspire them like they inspire us. Saturday, we’re all in this thing together.”
Nebraska-Michigan State Game Notes
N-Sider note: Five young Husker fans who have had bone marrow transplants, including Avery Harriman, will join the Huskers for the national anthem and introductions prior to the 3:10 p.m. tipoff. The other Nebraska transplant patients are Matthew Dinslage, 5, Columbus; Mateo Flores, 6, Omaha; Lauren Maciejewski, 12, Kearney, and Trevor Hallman, 21, Coleridge. Halftime ceremonies will feature the Alexandria Aces Basketball Performance Team, followed by the introduction of new Nebraska football coach Mike Riley and his staff.
Please join my conversation with Chris Harriman:
Q: Your life has revolved around Avery at home and in the hospital fighting pediatric cancer every day of the week. How would you describe what you’ve gone through?
A: It’s been a really difficult couple of years. From a family perspective, I’m not sure you could really explain it in words… going through two (bone marrow) transplants and seeing your son fight for his life…it’s just one of the most difficult things you could do because you feel helpless at times. You just wish you could take away the pain and suffering he’s going through. We are fortunate to have such incredible doctors and nurses, such an amazing support group, not only on this staff and at the University, but throughout the entire state. We hope that something good is going to come out of all of this. That’s one of the big reasons we’re trying to create as much awareness and educate people on pediatric cancer and leukemia and bone marrow transplants. We value the opportunity, and we’ve learned a lot from our experiences. Hopefully, what we’ve learned can help us teach others and help them in trying to save kids’ lives.
Q: Do you ever just take a deep breath and ask how did we get through all of this?
A: Yes, and I would be really remiss if I didn’t talk about my wife Cheryl and what she’s done for our family. Obviously, I have a very demanding job that takes a lot of time. I’m away, in terms of traveling for recruiting and for games. That’s a difficult thing, and my wife has been not only a mother, but also a nurse to Avery. She’s also his home teacher, and we have two other children as well. We would not be where we are right now if it wasn’t for her. I don’t think we would be where we are if we weren’t in such a great place with so many great people. I can’t even begin to tell you how helpful Janelle Boehm (wife of Nebraska executive associate athletic director Marc Boehm) has been. She has basically adopted my children and become, essentially, the grandmother in terms of helping look after my two daughters while we’re in and out of the hospital. We have so many people to thank, including Coach Miles and his family and everyone on staff. It’s truly been amazing how many people have stepped forward to help. I’ve said it to you before, but we are truly blessed to be in a place like this. I don’t know how we’ve gotten through it all. You just wake up and keep going. No other choice. You look back on the times when you were in the hospital and some really, really difficult times. Hopefully, as we go forward in this, we have a little bit more perspective on the value of everyday and being around family.
Q: Saturday is an important Big Ten game, but it’s also an obvious chance to create awareness for pediatric cancer. What do you expect and why’s it important?
A: I don’t know the exact protocol of what they’re going to do or how it will all set up. I just know that Kristin Eichorst (wife of director of athletics Shawn) and Marc Boehm have been really working hard to spearhead this thing. Basically, it’s part of the NABC Suits and Sneakers Awareness Week. Obviously, we’re teaming up with the American Cancer Society to promote not only bone marrow donor drives to fight cancer, but also to raise awareness and hopefully have some other guests there. The bone marrow registry is something that very few people are aware of. We were fortunate enough to have a match for Avery. I’ve said this to everybody that will listen. The registry is not big enough, so we’re encouraging students and we’re encouraging fans to try and help these kids that are battling pediatric cancer. We’re not only learning more about the national bone marrow donor program, but also asking for fans to have a cheek swab. Anybody who’s age 18 to 44 can do a quick cheek swab. That can enable us to expand the registry and hopefully give kids a great option. I’ve seen enough kids die because they aren’t able to have a match. That’s a difficult thing. When you talk about kids with different backgrounds, sometimes their chances of having a successful donor is almost zero. That’s not fair and that’s not right. I want to try and expand this registry and really try to drive this thing to get as many people signed up as possible. They don’t have to be at Saturday’s game to be a donor. They can jump on "Be the Match's" website and sign up. That doesn’t commit you to anything. It just commits you to be an option, and that’s important.
Q: Take us back to this month's win over Illinois. Was inviting Avery to be part of the press conference a spur-of-the-moment decision or was it pre-planned?
A: It was amazing, something I wasn’t even aware was going to happen. The game finished, and I brought Avery in the locker room, where the guys presented him the game ball. Everybody signed the ball and that was really, really neat. Shamus (McKnight, Nebraska men’s basketball sports information director) and Shavon just grabbed Avery and took him into the press room. I wasn’t sure what was going on, but I grabbed my wife and we got into the back of the room.
Q: It was an impromptu up-close and personal look at your son communicating his thoughts to Husker Nation. What was going through your mind and Cheryl’s mind?
A: To watch Avery handle that was something we’ll never forget. I promise you we’re not doing press conference tutoring at our house. He just handled it like he’s been there many a time before. To stand there and watch him…it was just really emotional for both of us. Seeing Avery smile is important. Seeing him be around somebody like Shavon was just neat, and it was natural. It wasn’t something that was forced. It wasn’t something that was organized. It just happened. We received all kinds of text messages and emails and phone calls. As parents, for a very short, brief period of time, you just take a deep breath and smile and enjoy the moment. It was so much fun for everyone. We were really proud and so thankful of everyone involved.
Q: What is it about Tim Miles that enables toughness on and off the court? Does this team see a metaphor in the toughness they try to show game in and game out?
A: I think it’s the type of character we have in our program…the type of people we have and the leadership. You know, Coach Miles is a guy who definitely wasn’t gift wrapped in this job. He’s taken many a tough job before he got to this point. So I think a lot of it stems from him being the fighter he is. I don’t know a whole lot, but I know in my short time how much the state of Nebraska and our fans appreciate hard work and how much they appreciate people who are willing to fight for what they get. We are not the most talented team. We are not full of McDonald’s All-Americans. We are not blessed with incredible shooting ability or amazing depth. But you can bet on the integrity of your kids and the character of your guys.
Q: There’s so much tradition and so much inherent pressure in Big Ten baskeball, yet so many meaningful goals that seem to go beyond the final score. Is that accurate?
A: In some respects. Avery and Terran’s mom (Joetta Petteway) are both fighting through cancer, and that truly helps our guys gain perspective on what’s really important. You know, it’s a basketball game. It’s not life; it’s a game, but you need to treat it and respect it and respect the people who pay a lot of money to come and watch our games.
Q: How do you measure the progress of this team in its second year in PBA?
A: As this thing progresses, we get better every year. I think that you’re going to have to play really well to beat us because we’re not going to give it to you. We’re going to fight for it. We’ve had our ups and downs and we’ve struggled early on this year but I’ve seen this team starting to form and come together. Everybody says ‘well that was an ugly win’…well, I’ll take an ugly win over a pretty loss any day of the week. It’s our identity. We preach that to our guys – there is nothing wrong with winning low-scoring games or winning tough games like Minnesota on Tuesday night. Winning is what you’re ultimately trying to accomplish. You can run up and down, which is kind of what we did against Indiana. We went away from our identity and lost that game. As this program grows, I don’t think that’s going to be the case long term.
Q: Right now, this team has no choice but to scratch and claw for everything it earns. What do you expect, bottom line, from this team this season and the seasons ahead?
A: I believe in our kids and I believe in their fight. Fighting for a life is a lot more important than fighting for a win, but this team will give you everything they have. Basketball and cancer are in completely different hemispheres, but I think this team has become a bunch of fighters and seems to draw a lot of energy from Avery and kids just like him who are fighting so hard themselves. I hope we inspire them like they inspire us. Saturday, we’re all in this thing together.”
Nebraska-Michigan State Game Notes
N-Sider note: Five young Husker fans who have had bone marrow transplants, including Avery Harriman, will join the Huskers for the national anthem and introductions prior to the 3:10 p.m. tipoff. The other Nebraska transplant patients are Matthew Dinslage, 5, Columbus; Mateo Flores, 6, Omaha; Lauren Maciejewski, 12, Kearney, and Trevor Hallman, 21, Coleridge. Halftime ceremonies will feature the Alexandria Aces Basketball Performance Team, followed by the introduction of new Nebraska football coach Mike Riley and his staff.
