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Fort Worth Star-Telegram
March 7, 1999
Section: HOMETOWN STAR-NORTH
Edition: ARLINGTON AM
Page: 1

For Cal's sake

Arlington rallies around young cancer patient
Ryan Sanders
Star-Telegram Writer

Cal Naughton could miss a lot of things growing up. He may miss seeing perfectly, or batting .300 on the Martin High School baseball team, but if he takes a cue from his parents, he won't miss any optimism. And if he treats others like Arlington has treated him, he'll give more than his share.

COURAGE

Cal turned 1 year old on Valentine's Day. His father, Chris, is a soccer coach at Martin High School, and his mother, Paige, is a home making teacher at Arlington High School. Cal is their only child. In January, Chris and Paige got some news that would forever change their son's future, and their relationship with the people of Arlington.

"Cal has retinal blastoma," Paige said dryly, sitting in her living room where scattered baby toys give no hint of her son's problem. "He had tumors in his eye."

Paige and Chris asked a doctor about Cal's eyes after they noticed that his left eye didn't always follow his right. They thought he had a lazy eye. They wish he did.

"We found out about the tumors on Jan. 18," Paige said. "They took his eye on Jan. 26."

Cal crawls at full speed around the Naughton home, a bandage covering the socket where a plastic ball has replaced his left eye.

Now, the couple is praying for the right eye. It is affected, too, but not as severely as the left. Doctors hope to remove all the malignant masses with laser surgery. But the first round of laser treatment brought no improvement. Cal will go back Tuesday.

Chris and Paige hold out hope. They are not angry or pitiful.

"I don't think we have the right to be angry," Chris said.

They talk about Cal's condition with courage. And they ogle at him and brag as if they don't have time to mourn his eye while they wonder at the rest of him.

Paige's words may best represent the couple's optimism and grace.

"One child in Texas per year is diagnosed with this," Paige said.

"Hopefully, Cal is it for 1999."

Indeed, the disease is rare. But so is the Naughton resolve. Cal's full name is Callan Andrew Naughton.

"His initials are CAN," Chris said. "He can do anything he wants to do. Maybe that sounds goofy, but that's us. We still believe he can do anything."

COMMUNITY

Almost as impressive as young Cal and his parents is the response from family, friends, co-workers and even strangers. If the young couple's own courage wasn't enough, Arlington's encouragement has buoyed spirits in the Naughton home.

Chris said they have received at least one gift or card every day since Cal lost his eye.

"It's just been incredible. There is no way to thank all those people," he said.

There have been gifts.

"We've got flowers, toys, you name it," Chris said.

There have been cards - more than 200 of them. On the kitchen counter, a stack of the greetings has grown too big to manage. They slide off to the floor.

And there has been money.

The first effort to help Chris and Paige was meant to be anonymous.

A group of friends who grew up with Chris established a savings account for Cal at Bank One. Chris' lifelong friend Chad Crow opened the account. Crow's daughter, Madison, was born a month before Cal.

"It's just devastating," Crow said. "That night, when I found out about it, I went in and looked at Madison, asleep in her crib and I just thought I can't imagine having to deal with something like that.

But if anyone can, it's Chris and Paige."

Crow said more than 50 people had made donations before he signed the account over to Chris. By then, the secret was out.

"We set it up as a savings account and got an ATM card on it," Crow said. "I stuck the ATM card in his box with a note that said something like, `Here's your official Cal card. Use it however you think it can best help Cal. "' The note, like the account, was intended to be anonymous.

"Chris and Paige are the type that would refuse anything you try to do for them," Crow said.

But Crow was too close to Naughton to keep the secret.

"I knew Chad's handwriting on that note," Chris grinned. "I grew up with the guy. I knew he was behind it."

COOKIES FOR CAL

The giving didn't end with family or friends. What followed was a show of support from every organization where the Naughtons are involved, and some where they aren't.

The Junior League made a donation. The Knights of Columbus contributed proceeds from a dinner. Their Sunday school class at Trinity United Methodist Church brought cards and meals. Even perfect strangers sent along checks and best wishes.

"It's hard to take people's hard-earned money," Chris said.

Even the strangers' gifts may not have been as remarkable as another group that has raised money for Cal - high school students.

"Martin was gung-ho," Chris grinned. "They just started doing all this stuff. They had `Cookies For Cal,' and they sold out. I know they passed a hat or something around at every banquet and game for weeks. And they wanted to do a lot more."

Martin students worked until 11 p.m. and midnight some nights, filling cookie orders to help Coach Naughton's son.

At Arlington High, students decorated the hallways with posters asking other students to "Help Cal," and "Care For Cal."

A team of students led by the student council and teacher Jamie Cisneros went door to door collecting money in classrooms. By the time they made their deposit in Cal's Bank One fund, students and faculty had given $2,500.

"I'm really proud of our kids and our faculty," Arlington Principal James Adams said. "I've always felt like Arlington High School kids were something. They care about each other and they care about other people, and they really opened their pocketbooks for Cal."

Adams and Martin Principal Steve Jacoby even considered a joint fund-raiser for students from both schools - an event that would show goodwill for the rivals, as well as for Cal. But Chris discouraged that idea.

"That was right after we had made our donation and Martin had just made theirs," Adams said. "I don't know if he was just feeling overwhelmed or embarrassed, but he said he would rather we not do it.

"We're still looking at that. I think the students would like it," Adams said. "They're our rivals, but a lot of our kids know Martin kids."

Chris used to coach at Bowie High School. The students there made a donation, too.

"You know you always think of teens as being, you know, not like that. But here they are, very mature and giving," said Chris' mother, Kay Naughton. "They have written cards and letters and beautiful prayers. They have been very supportive."

FAMILY TIES

Chris said he's not sure the donations have come because of his job as a coach or even Cal's plight. He gives credit to their friends and neighbors - people of Arlington who, he says, take care of their own.

And he credits mothers. Chris and Paige were both raised by single mothers in Arlington.

Chris said he has always been impressed with their effort, and he thinks the community's support has been at least partly inspired by respect for Cal's grandmothers.

"I think it reflects the type of people these two women are," he said.

Paige's father died when she was 7. His name was Andrew - Cal's middle name.

Paige's mother, Barbara Tapp, remarried 10 years ago. She's the principal at Williams Elementary School.

"Strength comes not from disappointment and hurt, but from how we handle ourselves and who we turn to in those times," Tapp said.

"Paige has come through some tough times and that probably has given her some backbone and character."

After high school, Chris at Arlington and Paige at Lamar, both went to Texas Tech. Chris played football there and they both earned degrees before returning to Arlington. It wasn't until then that they started to date.

Kay Naughton raised three children by herself. Ironically, her younger son, Brian, lost sight in his left eye in an accident not long ago.

"It's ironic that that happened," Paige said. But the couple hopes Brian can be Cal's "coach."

"He may be able to help him learn to do things," Chris said.

OUTLOOK

The cancer, doctors say, is contained in Cal's eye so there's little danger of it spreading. But the right eye is still in danger.

If laser treatments aren't effective, doctors will have to use more severe techniques.

Cal may need to see a specialist in Philadelphia, and he may need chemotherapy.

"We don't know what he'll need," Paige said. "This kind of cancer has a tendency to come back."

Soon, he'll get a false eye, like a contact, that will fit over the ball that replaced his left eye. Already, his nerves and muscles have attached to the ball, and he'll be able to move his left eye, making it hard to detect his handicap.

Chris and Paige are still getting used to all of that.

"We've seen an oncologist, retinologist, surgeons. We've seen a lot of doctors," Chris said.

The Naughtons have health insurance under Harris HMO. They said they've been pleased with the insurance and the doctors.

Paige has filed for family and medical leave, and spent every day with Cal since the first surgery. She said the doctor visits have made him more "clingy."

"He hangs on more. He wants to be with me all the time, doesn't want me to leave the room," she said.

But other than that, her son is just as happy and energetic as ever. Doctors say he's not in pain and his half-toothed grin certainly doesn't reveal any sadness.

"He's a tough little guy. He doesn't slow down," Chris said

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