Burr humbled by community’s support during his battle with Melanoma
A Swim for Cure meet between River View and Coshocton was held Nov. 29 in honor of Mike Burr. Burr, the boys’ varsity soccer coach at River View, was diagnosed with Melanoma during the soccer season. Josie Sellers | beacon
COSHOCTON – Swim for Cure was a very humbling experience for Mike and Linda Burr.
“This has been a blessing,” Mike said. “The goodness and kindness people have showed us is very humbling.”
Mike is the varsity boys’ soccer coach at River View and early in the 2016 season he was diagnosed with Melanoma. Since then the River View community has rallied behind him with a Fight Like Mike campaign and River View’s varsity swim coach Kristina King carried the support over to the swim season.
Swim for Cure was held Nov. 29 when the team opened its season with a meet against Coshocton. Fans from both schools did their best to white out Melanoma by purchasing white shirts that said Swim for Cure or Cure for Burr. Tickets for raffle prizes also were sold and there was a 50/50 drawing.
River View and Coshocton might have battled each other in the pool on Nov. 29, but the first swim meet of the season for both schools was about more than putting points on the board. Both schools worked together on a Swim for Cure event that helped raise money for Mike Burr, a coach at River View who was diagnosed with Melanoma earlier this year. Cortney Ringwalt | Beacon
By the time the evening was over $3,311.55 was raised for Mike and his family and King said a few donations are still coming in.
Mike said the money will go toward their Relay for Life team at Fresno Bible Church and to help with medical expenses.
“My wife heads up the team there and has done that for several years because her mom died of cancer,” he said.
Mike’s own journey with cancer started on Aug. 15 when he went to the doctor for what he thought was a hemorrhoid. He ended up getting sent for a colonoscopy and the pathology report from that procedure confirmed he had cancer.
“It’s a very rare type of Melanoma,” Mike said. “They say 1.7 cases out of a million are internal Melanoma.”
He had surgery at the Cleveland Clinic on Sept. 23, which was right in the middle of soccer season.
“I missed a lot of practices and games, but my assistant coach Vince Andrews stepped in and took over,” Mike said. “It was really hard on everyone, but the guys did well. They said they were going to win for me, but I told them I was going to be ok and to win for River View.”
The boys went on to win the ECOL and their sectionals before falling in the district championships.
“They really responded,” Mike said. “We had probably our best season in 10 years or so. They as a team were an inspiration to me. It’s really easy to get caught up in all the bad news that is out there, but this whole thing with cancer has really reminded me that most people are good. There are people who have sent me cards and said they were praying for me that don’t even really know me.”
He has been doing well since his surgery, but was told there is a 50 percent chance his cancer could come back.
“I was given two choices to wait and see if it comes back and then try chemo or whatever else they suggest or try to get into an immunotherapy trial program,” Mike said. “I applied for the trial because I want to be a step ahead and battle before it comes back.”
Throughout all this, he has focused on his faith in God.
“I’m a Christian, but I feel like I’m closer to God now than I’ve ever been,” Mike said. “Those shirts that say Fight Like Mike – that’s not me fighting, it’s God. I’m just trying to keep a good attitude and give all the glory to God. The devil can put thoughts in my head, but I just try to remember that God’s in control. Men seem to tend to think they are in control and can fix everything, but we aren’t. You have to put all your faith and trust in God and he will get you through things.”
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