When I heard one of the players on the Merritt boys basketball team had Cystic Fibrosis, I was expecting it to be someone who sat on the bench or who came off the bench to play a few minutes. I was not expecting it to be a starter who played over 28 minutes of the game. People with CF have problems in the glands that produce sweat and mucus. CF causes thick mucus that clogs certain organs such as the lungs, pancreas, and intestines. This may cause malnutrition, poor growth, frequent respiratory infections, breathing problems, and chronic lung disease. Because I understood there were a lot of breathing problems with patients with cystic fibrosis, it didn’t seem like a game as quick paced and physically draining as basketball would be ideal for someone with the disease.
The truth is, I was uneducated on the advancements that have been made in the treatment of the disease and on the determination of Mos Flowers and his family. The life expectancy of someone with cystic fibrosis had once only been 30 years. But now, patients who have consistent care and treatment are expected to live to be 50, and some even live to be 80 years of age. That’s a pretty amazing improvement. But, the Flowers family refuses to be satisfied with the advances that have been made and vow not to stop working to raise money until a cure has been found to cure the disease that affects their son. To do their part, they started the annual Elk City Cystic Fibrosis Baseball Tournament, now going into it’s 10th year.
Mos Flowers is said to be a miracle. Diagnosed at only 2 weeks old, he has been facing challenges head on and proving people wrong his whole life. Although Moss and the Merritt boys team lost in the quarterfinals game 50-59 to Hennessey, they fought to the end, proving that an unranked team could not only qualify for state, but could stand toe to toe with the talented 4th ranked, Hennessey team. These young men earned the right to walk away with their heads held high.
