Teenagers, cancer survivors and family members. Here are some of the faces of the Dempsey Center and the Dempsey Challenge:

Logan Morin, 14

Logan Morin had already lost her father to cancer when her mother was diagnosed last year. 

Brain cancer. Stage 4.

Morin and her mother should have been enjoying a happy Halloween weekend. Instead they spent it going from relative to relative, relaying the news, rehashing the diagnosis with each new person.

“We came home that night and all she did was cry and cry and cry,” said Morin, 14. “She was so sad. I didn’t know what to do.”

A few months later, while her mother stayed at a long-term care facility, Morin moved in with her aunt and uncle, a Sun Journal editor, in Lewiston. In February, she made her first visit to the Dempsey Center. It was an eventful one.

Actor Patrick Dempsey — who helped found the center — happened to be there that evening.

“They were trying to introduce me to the center and I couldn’t stop staring at Patrick Dempsey. I was like, ‘Oh my god, Patrick Dempsey’s in the room! Oh my god!’ So I didn’t hear a thing she said,” Morin said with a laugh.

She wasn’t a fan of his, particularly, but her friends were. She got a lot of Facebook attention for her brush with celebrity.

It didn’t take long, though, for Morin to realize the Dempsey Center was about a lot more than Patrick Dempsey. 

“Everyone’s really friendly there,” she said. “They’re, like, understanding. And they know what it’s like. And it’s so calming there. It’s so nice. So nice there.”

At the center, Morin gets counseling, massage and emotional support. Every Thursday, she attends a group for teens who either have cancer or love someone who has cancer.

“It’s a good place to vent,” she said of the center. “They listen.”

Morin has also gone to summer camp through the Dempsey Center, joining other kids whose siblings or parents have cancer.

All of the center’s services, including the summer camp, have been free.  

When asked what her life would be like without the Dempsey Center, Morin’s answer is immediate. 

“I’d be in a worse place,” she said. “Since I’ve been going there, I’ve been doing better with all this. They helped a lot.”

Shannon Thompson, fundraiser and family member

Phoebe Holland-Thompson was 3 years old when she was diagnosed with a brain tumor. 

She was 5½ when she died.  

“She was a kid who made a huge impact in this world just by being who she was,” said her aunt, Shannon Thompson. “I carry that with me and hope that I can also make some small difference in this world by doing some good. She really motivates me.”

Every year for the past four years, that motivation has led Thompson to travel from her home in Camden to join the Dempsey Challenge. 

“Because of that experience, I came to understand how completely horrible cancer is in a really personal way,” Thompson said. “Everybody gets that intellectually, but I hadn’t really felt it. I did the Challenge in her memory, in honor of her.”

She’s since added another reason to participate: Her father was diagnosed with cancer earlier this year. 

Thompson, a triathlete, usually runs and cycles in the Challenge. However, this year she’s recovering from a concussion, which makes such strenuous activity impossible.

It won’t stop her from trying, though. Not for Phoebe.

“I can’t get on a bicycle yet and I haven’t really been able to run,” she said. “Whatever it is it’s going to be challenging. I’m going to walk. Something.”

Brooke Ismail, Amanda Dempsey Award winner

In September 2013, Brooke Ismail was diagnosed with breast cancer.

Nine days after her double mastectomy, she went to the Dempsey Challenge. 

“I told my doctor that I was going . . . he said, ‘Well, we’ll see,'” said Ismail, 50. “I said, ‘Honestly, I’m sorry, I’m fine and I’m going to go.’ I went.”

Ismail, who was part of team Brooke’s Rat Pack, had to be driven to the finish line. But she was there and cheering.

This year, people will be cheering for her.

Ismail is the 2016 Amanda Dempsey Award winner. The award is in memory of Amanda Dempsey, who battled ovarian cancer for years. She died in 2014 at the age of 79. The Dempsey Center was founded in her honor.

The award is given every year during the Dempsey Challenge to honor a cancer survivor who shows a passion for helping others with cancer in Maine. Ismail, who lives in Glenburn, will be honored for her work with Champion the Cure Challenge and the Pink Runway Project, both in Bangor. She also recently started a peer-to-peer support group called Open Arms, which helps women with cancer.

But she’ll do more than get at award at the Challenge this weekend. She’ll also ride to raise money.

“I love being a part of the passion everybody has to want to get rid of cancer,” she said. “I so love being a part of that. And trying to do my part.”

Abby Fuller, cancer survivor

Abby Fuller is 17 years old, a freshman at Endicott College in Massachusetts and a former student athlete who played field hockey for Oak Hill High School in Wales. 

She is also a cancer survivor.

Fuller was born with a genetic mutation that can lead to tumor growth. Last year, when she was 16, she was diagnosed with thyroid cancer. 

Knowing that cancer was all but inevitable, her family had made sure she was already getting support from the Dempsey Center. The place — and the people there — helped Fuller through her diagnosis.

“The person in charge of the teen group, she researched my genetic disorder and stuff, so she knew more about it,” she said. “She came up with a plan to prepare me for it. It helped a lot.”

Like Logan Morin, who gets help from the center dealing with her mother’s cancer diagnosis, Fuller attended the teen group every week, went on outings with other kids with cancer, got counseling and massage — all for free.

“They do a really good job with the teens and the kids, making sure it’s not this boring place, and sad place, where all you do is talk about how you’re affected by cancer,” she said.

She also joined the Dempsey Challenge last year, participating in the 5K and the Survivor’s Walk

Now away at school, Fuller can’t get to the center every week like she used to. But the teen group has a Facebook group and she’s stayed in touch.

The center, she said, has been invaluable.

“It’s awesome,” she said. “It’s a good place for people to go to get support.”

ltice@sunjournal.com

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