After receiving word of his grandfather’s death, junior Joey Staten took matters into his own hands. In an effort to raise awareness about bladder cancer, Staten is dedicating his entire lacrosse season to his grandfather and bladder cancer research.

Unlike other cancers which have awareness weeks, designated colors and support groups, bladder cancer remains highly unknown to the public,  Staten said. According to the National Cancer Institute, bladder cancer often spreads and becomes fatal before diagnosis.  Staten has high hopes of bringing this rare form of deadly cancer to the public’s attention and assigning a designated ribbon color to the cancer.

“My grandfather and I were very close my entire life, and when he passed I wanted to do something about the rare cancer that took his life,” Staten said. “Overall I am hoping to raise a lot of money toward cancer research and also bringing attention to bladder cancer.”

Throughout the spring Staten has sported bright yellow socks, shoelaces and shoes in memory of his grandfather. Playing as a midfielder for the varsity team, Staten is also accepting donations as well as pledges for each goal, ground ball and assist he gets throughout the season.

“It’s going great so far. Our season is only halfway through, and I am already over $5,000 which was my original goal,” Staten said.

At the conclusion of the season, Staten will donate all of the money he has earned to The American Cancer Society. Along with his donation, Staten will also be submitting a proposal for designating bright yellow as the color for bladder cancer.

As of April 9, Staten had scored 12 goals and had nine assists.  Staten is accepting pledges and donations through email @joeystaten2014@charter.net.

“I’d like to thank everyone who has supported me thus far in my efforts to raise awareness,” Staten said.  “I can’t wait to see the final result and talk to the The American Cancer Society about designating a color. Suck it cancer!”

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