When referee Steve Jensen takes the field tonight at Arlington High School’s John C. Larson Stadium, he’ll have more than football on his mind.
“I know the hair on my arms will be standing up. It’s going to be so much different than a normal game,” said Jensen, a member of the Snohomish County Football Officials Association (SCFOA).
Jensen is scheduled to work tonight’s Western Conference North Division high school game between Cascade and Arlington. He and 44 other SCFOA members – who are working a total of nine games tonight – plan to donate their Friday earnings to Davis Carlson, an 11-year-old Camano Island boy battling two types of cancer.
Altogether, the SCFOA members figure to raise about $3,000.
Jensen and fellow football official Phil McDonald, the assignor/general secretary for the SCFOA, learned of Carlson’s plight on Oct. 14 when they worked the Oak Harbor-Stanwood game. That night, a 50-50 raffle generated $1,208 for Carlson, a fifth-grader at Camano Island’s Utsalady Elementary School. Afterward, Jensen and McDonald decided to get involved.
Jensen said the SCFOA’s message to Carlson and his family is simple: You’re not in this alone.
“He’s in a real tough battle right now,” Jensen said.
Added McDonald: “Unfortunately, there aren’t too many people who haven’t been touched by cancer. Kids deserve a better chance than that.”
According to Crystal Titus, a family friend who has been in contact with Gary Carlson, Davis Carlson’s father, the boy is receiving treatment for non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma and leukemia at Children’s Hospital and Regional Medical Center in Seattle. Davis Carlson, who turned 11 on Sept. 16, first became ill about nine months ago, Titus said. In August, just when it appeared his health was improving, Davis Carlson was diagnosed with leukemia.
Titus said the Carlsons are grateful for all the support. “They talk about it all the time,” she said. “They’re very appreciative, and it really helps them to know that people care.”
On top of receiving aid from local football officials, the Carlsons got a big lift from Camano Island resident Kathy Skeels, who donated $604 – the full value of her winning 50-50 ticket – last month at the Oak Harbor-Stanwood game.
“I’m just amazed constantly,” Titus said of the community’s response to Davis Carlson’s fight against cancer. “The outpouring and just the compassion of people here is really amazing.”
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