Teen Cancer Survivor Uses Own Experiences To Inspire Others

Jack Rolle(Pressbox Baltimore) – When Australian professional golfer Greg Norman was organizing his annual tournament for CureSearch, an organization that funds and supports children’s cancer research, in 2010, it wasn’t a celebrity or even a professional golfer he sought to speak at his event. It was 12-year-old Bethesda, Md., native Jack Rolle.

And when Maryland men’s basketball coach Mark Turgeon needed a speaker for his Coaches vs. Cancer Season Tip-off Breakfast Nov. 4, he also turned to Jack.

Now 16 years old, Jack knows all about overcoming obstacles. When he was 10, Jack, the grandson of radio and TV sportscaster Johnny Holliday, was diagnosed with a mixed germ cell tumor on the pituitary gland in his brain.

“I underwent brain surgery and then the doctors told me and my family I needed to go through chemo and radiation [for my brain and spine],” Jack said. “I had 16 rounds of chemo and two-and-a-half months of radiation.”

While undergoing treatment, Jack, his mother and younger brother moved to Boston so Jack could be treated at Massachusetts General Hospital.

“It was a long time – two-and-a-half months – but in the grand scheme of things it was clearly the right decision to make,” Jack’s mom Tracie Rolle said. “It was hard on my husband; it was hard on the boys and it was hard on Jack … but I think you just do what you have to do.”

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