Brian Tomlinson, at 17 a championship swimmer, illustrates the point.
A co-captain on the Athol Amphibians and partial to the butterfly stroke, he has been swimming since he was 6 months old and has worked as a lifeguard and swimming instructor at the Athol YMCA. In the past year he also has discovered a lot about life, after discovery of bone cancer that forced doctors to amputate his right leg at the knee.
It’s hard to tell whether inspiration to deal with the shock came from his family and friends or whether the teen inspired those around him. Or both.
“One of his greatest victories was in the middle of cancer treatment, still recovering from chemo … he won a swim meet after amputation and chemo,” recalled his mother, Julia Tomlinson, during an interview with The Recorder’s Domenic Poli, with her son, her husband, Sean, and Brian’s girlfriend, Allyssa Johnson, at the Athol YMCA. “And he needed a blood transfusion the next day.”
Mrs. Tomlinson said her son won the race while “bald as can be” and “pale as a ghost.”
Now, the home-schooled teenager is focusing on recovery and getting recertified as a lifeguard.
Brian says child swimmers are intrigued by his silver prosthetic limb, although he does not take it in the water, and they often ask to touch it, viewing him as a cross between The Six Million Dollar Man and Michael Phelps. He says he encourages youngsters to ask about his leg because it enables them to learn more.
Despite three months of chemotherapy, Brian’s tumor grew and spread to a nerve bundle in his knee and lower leg. A proud athlete, Brian learned amputation gave him the best odds of being active again.
Brian says he started using his walker right away and was off his morphine the next day. The road to recovery was trying, as he says he practically slept away a year of his life and missed a year of home-schooling. Mrs. Tomlinson said Brian is now N.E.D., a medical term that means No Evidence of Disease.
At the North Quabbin Chamber of Commerce & Visitors Bureau’s annual awards banquet on May 24, he became the first recipient of the North Quabbin Inspiration Award for his resolve in the face of hardship. Brian told the 17 tables of guests that his family members and the community as a whole serve as his own source of inspiration.
Sean says the family was unable to communicate with people back home during his hospitalization because they lacked computers, so family friend Jonathan Eldridge, who owns Never Grow Up! at 463 Main St., donated laptops as well as video games for Brian.
“They’re just good people … and Brian’s a really good kid,” Eldridge explained.
Mrs. Tomlinson, who also used to work at the Athol Area YMCA, says the organization has offered wonderful support as well. She says Healthy Living Director Matt Talbot has become family to the Tomlinsons, even traveling to Brian’s amputation surgery and pacing alongside Brian’s parents.
Walking by the pool at the YMCA one day recently, Brian said the cancer and amputation derailed his career plans. He had hoped to join the military and become a police officer. He got a taste of the dream when the Athol Police Department made him an honorary officer in June.
A young man of strong faith, Brian said he is now considering becoming a Christian pastor, not a bad profession for someone who knows more than a little about inspiration.