I Was Picked... The John Challis Story
Copyright © 2015 by Howard Shapiro
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced by any means, graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photo-copying, recording, taping or by any information storage retrieval system with out the written permission of the publisher except in the case of brief quotable embodied in critical articles and reviews.
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The views expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the view of the publisher, and the publisher here disclaims any responsibility for them.
Book Design by Pilar Brown
Cover Design by Scott Jones
Cover Photo by Christina Baird/Beaver County Times
Printed in the United States
FIRST EDITION JUNE 2015
ISBN 978–0–9912550–0–9
e-book: ISBN 978–0–9912550–5–4
CONTENTS
Howard Shapiro Acknowledgements
Challis Family Acknowledgements
Photo Credits
Foreword
Introduction
Part 1: Just an Ordinary Boy: Early Struggles Lead to Strong Family Bonds
Part 2: Something’s Not Right: John’s Cancer Diagnosis and Early Battle
Part 3: A Big Heart in a Small Body: John Playing Team Sports
Part 4: Religion: John’s Faith and Spirituality
Part 5: Selfless Acts and the Challis Effect
Part 6: The Fight of his Life: John’s Post-Diagnosis Battle Against Cancer
Part 7: Family Trips
Part 8: The Great Outdoors: John’s Love of Hunting and Fishing
Part 9: The Media: John’s Message Goes Worldwide
Part 10: Sports: “The Hit”; Pro Teams and Athletes Reach Out to and are Inspired by John
Part 11: It Won’t be Long: John’s Final Act
Part 12: A Life Too Short: Thoughts from Scott and Gina Upon John’s Passing
Part 13: I Get by with a Little Help from My Friends: Memories of John from his Friends
Part 14: Afterword: Final Thoughts
HOWARD SHAPIRO ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
Thanks to all of my friends at Animal Inc. and Animal Media Group (especially Michael Killen, Kathy Dziubek and Jim Kreitzburg) you guys made this all possible and for that I will always be grateful and appreciative! Our former interns who helped tremendously with research and transcription: Mark Slabinski, Tyler Rice, Lindsay Lehrman, Dustin Furman, Aurelia Henderson, Colleen Cavolo, Marlee Schneider, Haley Kittel, Lauren Simmons, Ryan McIntyre and extra special thanks to Elana Goldberg for her editorial and creative help. Danielle Hykes, Esq., Anthony Brooks, Esq., Joe Migliozzi, Mario Lemieux, Dr. Clark Gamblin and Kevin Kernan for their great back cover quotes and Joe Maddon for the wonderful Foreword for the book that he wrote.
Very special thanks to everyone who I interviewed and who were so gracious with their time and memories of John: Bert Pickard, Mike Tibolet, Taylor Dettore, Joe Signore, Joanna Jaworowski, Lena Holewski, Mitchell Meyers, Lisa Nardone, Andy Yeck, Adam Rose and Dan Lentz. Extra special thanks to Steve Wetzel for such a great interview as well as Mike White. It was a great honor Mike, thanks for sharing so much of your time and memories with me.
Thanks to Pilar Brown for stepping in at the 11th hour and doing a great job on the book design, to Kevin Jones for creating such a great cover and to Christina Frey for her time and help on editing and proofing the book. Thank you to Kevin Finley for his work on the publicity and marketing fronts. I also wanted to single out and say thanks to Christina Ahn Hickey. You are a great friend and collaborator and thank you for all that you have done for me and my writing! A huge shout out to Tom Cochrane for his friendship, inspiration and the kindness extended to me over the years. . . you’re the best, my friend! To my sister Jody Shapiro and my mom Alice Shapiro whose strength and character are second to none. I love you so much.
Extra special thanks to Gina, Sasha and Nikita, I love you three more than anything in the world.
Finally, words can’t express my thanks to Scott, Gina and Lexie Challis. You three were kind enough to invite me into your home and share all of your memories of John with me and you gave me the great honor to try and tell John’s story. As I said from the first time I met you, if nothing else, I want you three to be happy with the book. Thanks again for everything!
For more information please log onto www.animalmedaigroup.com or www.howardshapiro.net. Please send your comments, questions or feedback to info@animalmediagroup.com or hockeyplayer4life@gmail.com. Please check out my pages on Facebook http://www.facebook.com/hockeyplayer4life and http://www.facebook.com/pages/Howard-Shapiro/296610707017204?ref=ts Please also look for me on Goodreads and on Twitter (@hockeyplayer)
For more information or to read more about John Challis, please go the Courage for Life Foundation website at this link:
http://courageforlifefoundation.org/about-us/john-challis/
CHALLIS FAMILY ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
Adam Rose
Beaver County Times
Bert Pickard
Bill Utterback
Bill Wilhelm
Bishop David Zubik
Boston Red Sox’s
Carol May
Christina Baird
Christine Simpson
Cleveland Indians
Conway Borough Council
Conway Police Department.
Dan Arruda
Dan O’Leary
Dan Prunzik
Davis DiDomenico
Detroit Tigers
Dr. Anthony Graves
Dr. Clark Gamblin
ESPN
Father Ward
Freedom Borough Council
Freedom Little Bulldogs
Freedom Police Department.
Freedom School District
Freedom School District Booster Organizations
Fuji Network
George Sullivan
Hunt of A Lifetime Foundation
Jason Zillo
Jay Kerschner
JC Summers
Jessica McNear
Joan Pail
Joe Maddon
Joe Signore
Karen Bozza Roman
KDKA TV Radio
Kelly Junkerman
Kimberly Jones
Larissa Theodore
Linda Keener
Lisa Land
Liver Cancer Center Montefiore Hospital Pittsburgh
Make A Wish
Mark Stempler
Michele Rosenthal
Michelle Mejia
Mike White
MLB Network
New Sewickley Twp. Police Department.
New Sewickley Twp. Supervisors
New York Yankees
Noll Funeral Home
Pittsburgh Children’s Hospital Oncology Unit
Omar Khan
Patty Paytas
Patty Tiberio (Gram)
Patty, Tim, Tyler and TJ Heltch
Pittsburgh Penguins
Pittsburgh Pirates
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
Pittsburgh Steelers
Pittsburgh Tribune - Review
Saints Peter and Paul Roman Catholic Church
Scott Jones
Sean Casey
Steve Wetzel
Tampa Bay Rays
Tom Challis (Grandad)
Tom McMillian
Tom Rinaldi ESPN
Tony Rich
Trudy Scarborough
War Dogs
William Allmann
WPXI TV
WTAE TV
A special thank you to Joanna Jaworowski for being the best aunt a parent could ever wish for their kids. For the love and support and never giving up hope.
To Howard Shapiro and the Animal Media Group for believing in our sons story.
For more information or to read more about John you can go to the web at. . . http://courageforlifefoundation.org/about-us/john-challis/
PHOTO CREDITS
PHOTOGRAPH
DATE
PHOTO BY
Left (1)
December 1993
Scott Challis
Right (2)
Fall 1993
Scott Challis
Bottom Right (3)
Summer 1996
Scott Challis
October 19, 2007
Hunt of a Lifetime Foundation
Right (5)
May 2008
Christina Baird/Beaver County Times
Left (6)
September 2007
Graule Studios
Top Left (9)
September 2007
Scott Challis
Top Right (7)
July 2007
Scott Challis
Bottom (8)
November 2007
Unknown
Left (10)
April 11, 2008
Dan O’Leary
Top Right (11)
April 12, 2008
Christina Baird/Beaver County Times
Bottom Right (12)
May 2007
Scott Challis
Left (13)
April 2008
Christina Baird/Beaver County Times
Top Right (14)
November 2007
Christina Baird/Beaver County Times
Bottom Right (15)
December 2007
Christina Baird/Beaver County Times
Top (16)
October 28, 2006
Scott Challis
Bottom (17-A)
February 2008
Unknown
Top (17)
May 2008
Scott Challis
Bottom (18)
December 2007
Jody Jaworowski
Top (19)
May 2008
Christina Baird/Beaver County Times
Bottom Left (20)
June 5, 2008
Unknown
Bottom Right (22-A)
June 5, 2008
Unknown
Top (21)
June 5, 2008
Christina Baird/Beaver County Times
Bottom (22)
June 5, 2008
Christina Baird/Beaver County Times
Top (23)
July 2007
Scott Challis
Top (24)
March 2008
Christina Baird/Beaver County Times
Bottom (25)
May 2008
Top (26)
June 25, 2008
Pittsburgh Pirates
Bottom (28)
June 28, 2008
Pittsburgh Pirates
Top (27)
June 25, 2008
Pittsburgh Pirates
Bottom (29)
July 2, 2008
New York Yankees
Top (30)
June 2008
Scott Challis
Top (32)
August 2, 2008
Scott Challis
Bottom (31)
June 2008
Scott Challis
Top (37)
December 16, 2010
Scott Challis
Bottom (33)
Spring 2009
Scott Challis
Top (34)
June 2010
Scott Challis
Inset (34-B)
June 2010
USPS
Left (34-A)
August 19, 2009
Scott Challis
Top Left (35)
March 2009
Scott Challis
Bottom left (36)
2010
Unknown
FOREWORD
C + B = L
Those three letters are on the top of every lineup card I make out as manager of the Tampa Bay Rays. It’s been that way since June 28, 2008. That was the day I met John Challis.
The week before, we were in South Florida to play the Marlins, and I was in my hotel room killing time and watching ESPN when a story came on about a young western Pennsylvania athlete dying of cancer. For a lot of reasons, the story hit close to home. While the tumor in his liver had reduced John to little more than a skeleton and snuffed out a varsity career before it began, he held tight to a dream: to get just one at bat for his Freedom High School team [and] to face a fastball one last time in his life, no matter how much pain it might bring.
The single still photograph of that moment captured it all perfectly, freezing the ball leaving John’s bat as it headed into right field for a clean single. It was witnessed by only a handful of people on a gray April day on a field with more dirt than grass, against a backdrop of trees not yet recovered from a cold Pennsylvania winter. That stark and colorless scene presented a powerful image, and for me, an eerily familiar one. I spent many days on fields just like it while growing up on the other side of the state. The magnitude of the moment, a young man achieving success in his first and only chance, under impossible circumstances, was overwhelming to me. That photo will stay with me forever.
I knew I needed to meet this remarkable young hero. As fortune would have it, our next stop was an interleague series in Pittsburgh, about twenty minutes from the Challis home.
We met in the first base dugout at PNC Park, and I was immediately impressed by his presence and how he conducted himself, knowing what was going on inside him.
As we spoke, John slipped and called us the Devil Rays. Our franchise had just changed its name from Devil Rays to Rays, and to help enforce the name change we imposed a dollar fine on anyone who referred to us by our former name.
I immediately told him that he owed me a buck. He didn’t think it was fair and didn’t want to pay it. But I insisted. “You’re no different than anyone else,” I gently scolded him.
He eventually produced a bill, and I asked him to sign it. He did and then scrawled something else of his own making, his formula for living:
Courage + Believe = Life.
He nailed it with that thought, totally nailed it. The way any of us wish we could. I was completely in awe of this kid who was forced to mature so rapidly in the face of this terrible disease. He processed it the way I would think a grown man would have.
A little less than two months later, John died. I still have the bill he signed and a ball. His uniform is framed in my office. And the red wristband I never remove is for the John Challis Courage for Life Foundation.
The three letters at the top of my lineup card are also permanent. When things go too fast, or I get upset about something during the game, that message brings it back for me. Nothing gives me proper perspective than those three letters. Thank you, John. I will always be grateful.
Joe Maddon, March 2014
INTRODUCTION
I WAS PICKED... THE JOHN CHALLIS STORY
By Howard Shapiro with the Challis Family
During the spring and early summer of 2008 I was writing my first graphic novel, The Stereotypical Freaks, but I was in the midst of a bad case of writer’s block. I knew what I wanted the story to say, but I was missing a character, one who would be the center of the story’s universe. I read a front-page article in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette by Mike White about an amazing teen who had terminal cancer but wanted to play baseball one more time, and who got a solid hit on the first pitch. It read like something out of a Disney movie, but it really happened—and sadly, John was dying.
But he came across unlike
any teen or even any adult in that situation would. He spoke of not sweating the small stuff, of living every day to its fullest, and of living in the moment. While I was reading about John, a light bulb went off in my head. I was inspired and wanted to create a character who had John’s immense wisdom and his beyond-his-years sensibility. The Jacoby character was born, and I was able to finish writing the book a few months later.
The Courage for Life Foundation (CFL) was started right before John’s death, and each year I do a charity raffle at my book signings and donate the money raised to hockey and/or sports-related causes. The CFL is one of the charities I donate to each year. After The Stereotypical Freaks came out in 2011, I sent the Foundation a copy of the book and told them that the Jacoby character was inspired by John. I ended up emailing John’s dad, Scott Challis, and had the honor of meeting him at a book signing in September 2012. He told me that over the last several years he had been trying to have a book published about John and his story. Truthfully, I was surprised one had not come out, and I told him so. A few weeks later Scott called me and asked me if I would be interested in writing John’s story. I was floored, and accepted with great honor and a desire to tell John’s story and keep his message and memory alive.
Questions swirled around my head after I hung up the phone with Scott. John’s courage was remarkable, but where did that ability, the ability to move, inspire, and enlighten young and old, come from? Was it something John was born with? How could someone so young, someone who was beginning his life, develop the wisdom and strength that most people twice or three times his age did not have or would not even be able to muster if put in a similar situation?
PART 1
JUST AN ORDINARY BOY: EARLY STRUGGLES LEAD TO STRONG FAMILY BONDS
Things were not right from the start.
John Scott Challis Jr. was born on December 16, 1989. He was Scott and Gina’s first child and would be their only son. At birth he weighed five pounds, nine ounces and measured eighteen and a half inches. Everything seemed normal until two days later, when the newborn, who had yet to have a bowel movement, quit eating. John was rushed by helicopter thirty-five miles from the Medical Center of Beaver County to Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh. He was baptized and given his last rites.