Union Tribune Article on Darren

Patrick Henry players to shave heads in supportFriday, March 5, 2010 at 7:44 p.m.

SAN DIEGO — By Lyndsay Leonelli

Contributing writer

For a group of Patrick Henry High School freshmen football players, sending a get-well card to their sick teammate just wouldn’t do. Instead, some team members and their coach will shave their heads to support Darren Shanks, recently diagnosed with cancer.

The “Haircut for Darren” will be held at 11 a.m. Saturday at the school’s football field in Del Cerro. Coach Leroy Dailey, organizer of the event, said the team wants to let Darren know he isn’t alone.

“It is a show of solidarity and unity for a cause. That cause is Darren’s fight against cancer. He is our brother and we want to support him in every way we possibly can,” Dailey said on a blog he created for the freshmen team.



In January, Darren began to have chest pains. What his family thought was going to be a simple case of the flu turned out to be a life-threatening tumor in his chest.

“I think as a parent, in that initial moment, you think the worst. ‘It’s not pneumonia, it’s something nefarious,’” said Vivian Colmenero, Darren’s mom. “You’re just holding your breath until they say, ‘your child has cancer.’ It’s devastating.” “

The 14-year-old freshman was admitted to Rady Children’s Hospital in January. He has been diagnosed with Mature B cell Lymphoma, more commonly referred to as “Burkitt’s lymphoma.” The tumor, which is encroaching upon his heart and constricting airways, is too large to operate on. Doctors are hopeful that after chemotherapy, it will be small enough to surgically remove, Colmenero said.

Darren has been involved in sports from soccer to swimming, but his primary goal is to play JV football.