Grayson Savery will serve as honorary captain for the Kennett High School football team, Friday night.
KENNETT SQUARE — When Kennett High School’s varsity football team takes the field for its first home game of the season on Friday, September 2, a very courageous little boy will lead the charge.
On Halloween 2012, when he was two years old, Grayson Savery was diagnosed with a form of pediatric brain cancer, medullary fibrillary astrocytoma. Grayson’s tumor is enmeshed within his brain stem, the powerhouse of the brain, and entwined within the nerves that control major gross and sensory reactions, such as breathing and swallowing. In January 2013, Grayson began what would total 18 months of weekly chemotherapy at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP). Grayson’s tumor is currently stable.
“He is a larger-than-life kid,” his mother, Jaclyn Savery, says. “Through it all, he always wanted to live.”
In just a few days, Grayson will begin first grade at New Garden Elementary School. To kick off his year, the Kennett High School Varsity Football team has named Grayson honorary captain for their game against Chichester High School on Friday, September 2.
“The Kennett School District has always rallied around ‘our own,’ and we want Grayson and his family to know that they have our unwavering support. That is what we do,” says superintendent Dr. Barry Tomasetti. “Our prayers for Grayson’s complete recovery are with him each and every day.”
This is not the first time the Kennett Consolidated School District has united to support a member of its community. Last spring, the District was shocked to learn that a high school student, John Paul Dean, had been diagnosed with stage four non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma.
“It was very gratifying to see how our school community rallied around this young man and his family,” Tomasetti comments. “John Paul demonstrated unwavering spirit and courage during his time of recovery. His cancer is in remission and he has moved on to the next step in life, as he entered Emory Riddle University this fall.”
