Relay For Life - Washington University [1 of 2]

Get the latest Flash player

VoctoberdaysV
April 13, 2009

Relay for Life - Washington University in St. Louis (Part 1 of 2) March 21 - 2009 Relay for Life Spring 09 - Tony Speech A couple months ago, my fiancé, Tony Perolio, a very enthusiastic boy, ca...

Relay for Life - Washington University in St. Louis (Part 1 of 2)

March 21 - 2009

Relay for Life Spring 09 - Tony Speech

A couple months ago, my fiancé, Tony Perolio, a very enthusiastic boy, called me just to announce that he was asked to give a speech at Relay for Life. He was so excited and so incredibly honored. First of all, he loves talking. Period. Secondly, he revels in every chance he has to make people tear up. Thirdly, and most importantly, he truly sees his personal struggle as a learning experience and sincerely desires to share his life lessons with others, so that their lives might be bettered, even if in a very small way.

Tony wrote the speech I am going to read to you in a few minutes a couple weeks ago. He spent time revising, editing, deciding what to take out and what to leave in. He wanted his message to be direct, while also giving you an idea of what kind of man he is, outside of the cancer.

Tony is unable to attend this event today because he is in the hospital. Very suddenly, because of his lowered immune system, he caught an awful respiratory virus, which requires him to be closely monitored and on oxygen, for we don’t know how long. He was very sad he could not give his speech today because this message is so important to him.
I assured Tony that the speech would be read; the message would get out. More so, perhaps, than the speech I am about to read, Tony’s message will be relayed by his personal testament. Whether you have had the privilege to meet Tony or not, his story is one of hope and inspiration. Him being unable to give this speech today makes his testament all the more real: This fight is not over. We are not finished.

I will now read what Tony wrote for this special occasion. Please hold it in your hearts as you pass through the night on your very noble journey.

---------------------------------------- ------------

Hello everyone. My name is Tony Perolio. I’m a last semester senior in engineering here at Wash U. Tonight, I would like to talk to you about appreciation—on many levels. Before I do that however, it would help to tell you a bit about my history. You most likely don’t know me because I do not have a typical Wash U background.

WAY back in the summer of 2000, I graduated high school. I enlisted in the military in 1999, when I was only a junior. I itched for adventure and to serve my country; I was just waiting to graduate. I left for service in July of 2000. I planned on taking college classes while being in active duty, however rigorous training and constantly changing deployment schedules made that impossible. I made the best of my time though; I had amazing experiences and met great people. I spent almost all of 2003 in Iraq. So, I was there at the beginning of it all. I was honorably discharged in July of 2004 as a sergeant.

I was so happy. I was a free man! Don’t get me wrong; I was very proud of my service and had no regrets, but I was beyond eager to get back into academia and get my degree. I could finally be on my own schedule, in control of my own life. I applied and was accepted for the UMSL/ WASH U joint engineering program before I was even discharged. I got home and I was like a hyperactive little boy—a 22 year-old little boy. Excited by everything! I was more active than ever. I ran every morning and most nights. I was an avid climber, sneaking away to a camping-climbing weekend whenever possible. I played drums in a band. I caught up with all the friends I had left and made new friends. I felt that I could finally do everything I wanted to do (that I had waited 4 years to do) and I could do it all on my own terms. I felt as if I was finally in charge of my future.

During the fall semester of 2006, everything was going wonderfully. I was getting ready to transfer full time to Washington University. That October though, I started to notice strange things happening in my body. My typical runs, ranging anywhere from 3 to 20 miles, became more difficult every day. Each day, I became more easily exhausted. My eyes were severely sensitive to daylight. Walking upstairs was a feat in itself. My self-diagnosis was Mono and I thought that all I needed to do was tough it out. It wasn’t until my family saw me on Thanksgiving Day that I began to think it was perhaps something more. The minute they took a look at me, they ordered me to go to the doctor: immediately. I went the next day and the doctor seemed initially confounded as she drew some blood and prescribed some antibiotics as a vague catch-all plan. The next day, the blood results came back and I was ordered to return to the hospital immediately. This is the day I was diagnosed with Acute Leukemia, or “ALL.”

(continued in part 2)

Category: People & Blogs

Tags:

Relay for Life Washington University Wash St. Louis Saint Barnes Jewish Hospital American Cancer Society March 21 2009

More From: VoctoberdaysV

Play All Stop Autoplaying | Play Next

QuickList(0)

Clear | Save

1 ratings

166 views

Favorite

Playlists

Flag

Want to add to Favorites? Sign In or Sign Up now!

Want to add to Playlists? Sign In or Sign Up now!

Want to flag a video? Sign In or Sign Up now!

Statistics & Data

Video Responses (0)

This video has no Responses. Be the first to Post a Video Response.

Text Comments (1) Options

soccerstar0009 (7 months ago) Show Hide

Marked as spam

great job, jess!
tony, post the second half!

VoctoberdaysV (7 months ago) Show Hide

Marked as spam

To all who are watching or who have seen this, I am still trying to put up part 2. I have uploaded many videos onto YouTube before, and for some reason, these videos have given me a lot of trouble. It took me no less than 6 tries to successfully put up part 1!

So please bear with me as I continue to try to upload part 2. I'm a busy student, so my attempted windows are at night before I go to bed.

Thanks!! =)

Showing 1 of 1 comments

Show More Comments

View All 1 comments

Would you like to comment?

Join YouTube for a free account, or sign in if you are already a member.

YouTube	Programs	Help	Policy	Discover
Contact Us	Advertising	Get Help	Privacy Policy	YouTube on Your Phone
YouTube Store	Developers	YouTube Handbook	Terms of Service	YouTube on Your Site
Press Room	Partnerships	Community Help Forums	Copyright Notices	YouTube on Your TV
Business Blog	Content Management	Safety Center	Community Guidelines	YouTube RSS Feeds
YouTube Blog		Creator's Corner		TestTube

Add YouTube to your Google homepage

Current Location: Worldwide Show locations