Live Glass Blowing Event to benefit the Matt Allen Family
Prior to 2:45 am on September 24th, 2009, Matt Allen didn’t know that he had a tumor the size of a fist in his brain. Up until that point Matt was one of those people who never got sick; he was a perfectly healthy 43 year-old man with a wife and two kids. In the weeks leading up to that date, there were no signs or symptoms. He was going to work everyday, was an assistant softball coach at McGuinness high school where his daughter Taylor played, and he was running up and down the sidelines of his son Chris’s football games, cheering for Chris and all of his friends.On Tuesday, September 21st, Matt had a bad headache. He and his wife Kelly blamed it on a home improvement project he was working on–demolition of the ceramic tile in their entryway and kitchen. They thought he had simply inhaled too much dust and it was irritating his sinuses. A visit to his primary care doctor the next morning seemed to confirm this theory. By Wednesday night, September 23rd, Matt’s headache had returned in force. Kelly drove him to the ER at Mercy Hospital, arriving shortly after midnight. By the time the results of the CT the doctor ordered had returned, Matt was unconscious and was not able to be awakened to hear the news. The doctors told Kelly that her never-sick Matt had a massive brain tumor.
It has been two years and two months since Matt and Kelly Allen’s life changed forever. In this short period of time Matt has survived four brain surgeries, weeks of daily radiation, and on-going chemo with little or no break. Some would call it a miracle that Matt Allen worked in-between each of his surgeries, continued to coach his daughters softball team until the season ended, and still makes his sons sports games. It IS a miracle, but it is also a testament to Matt’s spirit and the resolve he and his family have to live life to the fullest. They call the experience their “adventure”; their “magic carpet ride”. Kelly says, “As long as we are in it together, we’ll be okay.”
