HIS SPIRITS STAY HIGH

By CAROLE DICKEY

Cody Martin has a lot of fans, but probably one of his most ardent is his grandma, Arletta Martin. She calls the 14-year-old Liberty Middle School student “a real trooper.”

There are plenty of reasons for that.

Last year Cody lost his right leg to fibrosarcoma, a type of cancer, but he still plays flag football, soccer, participates in gym, rides a bike and – according to his dad, Mike – runs around the house.

Very recently he has had two surgeries to remove 10 fibrosarcoma tumors that developed on his lungs, but he doesn’t let that stop him from picking up his electric guitar, a shiny red Gibson SG 6, and filling the house with sounds of Black Sabbath, Ozzie Osborne, Jimmy Hendricks and others of his favorite bands.

And, although his mother was killed in an automobile accident when Cody was very young, he hasn’t developed into a surly teen. Instead, this honors student is upbeat and positive.

“He has made it easy for all of us, because he has never asked, ‘Why me?’ or anything like that,” said his grandma. “He accepts it and he moves one. His friends, Ben and Jerry, said that he is a hero - and he is a hero,” she said.

The twins Ben and Jerry Funt are a couple of Cody’s school chums and part of an award-winning band the teens have formed. When Ben and Jerry learned that Cody’s cancer had returned, this time on his lungs, and he needed the surgeries, they wanted to do something to help. They saw the Gibson SG guitar in a store window and knew that would help cheer up their pal who wanted an electric guitar. They didn’t have the money, so they took their concern to school and were allowed to hold a fundraiser. During their first efforts, assisted by fellow student Nicole MacDonald, they raised $1,200 from generous and caring schoolmates. They were able to buy Cody his guitar, some accessories and three free guitar lessons, with enough left over to give to Cody’s father to help with medical expenses.

It was help Martin was very grateful for. He expects medical costs to exceed $50,000, and has opened a trust fund at Washington Mutual for people who would like to donate.

Cody’s cancer first struck like a bolt out of the blue, unexpected and aggressive. He was walking around at a renaissance festival and twisted his ankle a few times stepping on chunks of mulch that had been scattered around for atmosphere. Pretty soon his ankle started growing painful.

“So we went home and I took my shoe and sock off and there was this huge lump on the side of my ankle,” he said.

Thinking his son had a sprained ankle, Martin took him to the doctor. X-rays showed a large round spot, and Cody was referred to another doctor. This one decided to extract fluid to see if the swelling would stay down, but the doctor couldn’t get any fluid out of it, Martin said.

Surgery was scheduled, and the doctor expected to remove a cyst that had been created from a sprained ankle, Martin said.

“It ended up being a tumor. This was like the head of an octopus and all of the tentacles had gone down and woven in through his foot,” Martin said.

That was Cody’s first bout with cancer. It took his leg, and chemotherapy took his hair, but nothing took his spirit. His hair grew back, he got a prosthetic leg and, as his grandma would say, “he moves on.”

Moving on included going every three months for a scan to make sure the cancer stayed away. For awhile it did. Then, March 20, the tumors were back, this time on his lungs. He had the first surgery March 23, the second on March 25, and now is facing rounds of chemotherapy.

Knowing the chemo meant he would lose his hair again, Cody decided to have a little fun with his hair while he still had it. He opted for a Mohawk, assisted by The Street Light Gang, a group of University of Florida college students that volunteer at Shand’s Hospital. With their help, he got his Mohawk and a dye job, too – orange and blue, UF colors, of course.

Jerry recalls when Cody came back to school the first time, after his leg had been amputated. “He’s awesome. When he got back he said, ‘Call me Peggy,’ so we call him Peggy,” Jerry said.

“Cody’s an inspiration,” Ben said.

People may help with Cody’s medical expenses by donating at any Washington Mutual bank. Tell them the donation is for a benevolent account named Cody Martin Cancer Foundation.