UPDATE: Students to swim for Hetland

 

UPDATE: Due to projected weather conditions, this event is postponed.

ORIGINAL STORY: On Saturday, October 12, the Davies High School girls swimming and diving teams are hosting the Davies Swimming and Diving Invite and will raise funds for swimming coach Tyler Hetland, who has undergone multiple surgeries and will receive radiation therapy for a brain tumor in the right frontal lobe. The invite includes teams from Wahpeton, Shanley, West Fargo, and Sheyenne High Schools.

In April 2012, Hetland, who is also a physical education teacher at Eagles Elementary School, had his first surgery to remove a tumor growing in his brain, located in the right frontal lobe, called an oligoastrocytoma, a non-cancerous tumor that has the potential for regrowth. In December 2014, he had a second brain surgery to remove a regrowth of a tumor. His healthcare team scans Hetland’s brain every six months, keeping a watchful eye for any regrowth. This summer, during a checkup at Mayo, the team noticed some potential regrowth and scheduled surgery five years to the day from his second surgery. Now, Hetland will spend approximately 5-6 weeks, five days a week, receiving treatments at Mayo clinic to hopefully stop the potential of regrowth.

The invite begins at 9:30 a.m. Those attending will have a chance to purchase a t-shirt the Davies swimmers designed to bring awareness to brain tumors and brain cancer. A free-will donation box will be available. All money raised will go to support Tyler Hetland through surgery and radiation therapy.