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DRAPER -- The SunCrest Community Center looked like a carnival Saturday, complete with face painting, massages and a bake sale. The focus of the event, however, was much more somber.
Tim Ellis, 18, was diagnosed with testicular cancer two months ago. Now, Ellis is gaunt from the chemotherapy that makes him so sick. His mother, Tracy Grist, is determined to raise awareness about the disease which has radically changed the family's life. The fundraiser was meant to help with their medical bills, and any leftovers were to go toward raising awareness of testicular cancer.
The cancer is one of the most common to affect men between 15 and 35 years old, and also one of the most treatable, being 99 percent curable with early detection.
"I wanted to use this experience to protect other boys from having this -- to protect their moms from seeing their children in chemotherapy," Grist said.
Grist, who has seven children, says every parent of a young man should know how to check himself for the cancer and have information about it.
"Ten minutes of awkward I would take a million times over than seeing my son, my Timmy, go through chemotherapy and seeing the fear in his eyes and see him lose so much weight and be so sick," Grist said.
Ellis has taken another message from his experience, something he offers to everyone.
"Be happy. You don't have to have a big disease to know people love you," Ellis said.
