Meet Darryl May and Family
Darryl May has battled Multiple Myeloma (bone marrow cancer) for several years. Although the stem cell transplant was a success and he is making progress in his fight, he continues to need extensive medical care.
"The May family is so grateful to be a part of the No Frills Fun Run this year and thanks everyone in advance for their commitment to the event. While the kids may have eligibility conflicts in terms of actively running, Darryl has made it part of his rehabilitation goal and Susan her fitness goal to participate in some way."
"The May family is so grateful to be a part of the No Frills Fun Run this year and thanks everyone in advance for their commitment to the event. While the kids may have eligibility conflicts in terms of actively running, Darryl has made it part of his rehabilitation goal and Susan her fitness goal to participate in some way."
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A Tenacious SurvivorAs a lifelong athlete, and given his prior cancer treatment, Darryl knows well the commitment required to win this battle and faces this challenge with grace and tenacity. He is a one-time cancer survivor already, having beat testicular cancer 14 years ago and joyfully celebrated five-years cancer free in 2006 by qualifying for and running the Boston Marathon. Unfortunately though, a new cancer diagnosis surfaced in the form of multiple myeloma (bone marrow cancer) seven years ago. He is currently undergoing re-staging following his third (and first donor) stem cell transplant, triple-organ failure and graft versus host cell rejection issues. As a lifelong athlete, and given his prior cancer treatment, Darryl knows well the commitment required to win this battle and faces this challenge with grace and tenacity but extensive medical care is still needed for his continued progress. As he moves into the unknown world of long-term disability after prolonged years of incurring medical expenses, the No Frills Fun Run provides encouragement and hope.
A Caring and Athletic FamilyElmhurst residents for 27 years, Darryl and Susan have been involved in District 205 academic, athletic, and arts programs, the Public Action to Deliver Shelter (PADS) ministry, Boy and Girl Scouts programs and within the running community, as they are co-founder of the Elmhurst Running Club and prior race co-director for the 4 on the 4th run.
Darryl and Susan met on the cross country team in college and have three children, a junior bio-medical sciences major in college and both a senior and freshman at York.All three share their parents passion for running. The eldest, like Darryl, is an All-America cross country runner. His brother, recently an All-Conference, All-Regional, and All-Sectional runner, hopes to pursue both engineering and competitive racing in college and was a Chicago Area Runners Association (CARA) Junior Runner of the Year. Their younger sister just concluded her first year on varsity at York where she, too, was All-Conference and holds holds the 1600m and 800m track records for her middle school. As you can understand, seeing his kids' compete is a major motivation for Darryl! |