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Irving receives Sertoma Award for service to mankind by Laurie Zone-Smith Clinical Services Michael Irving  is well known to the Medical Center staff as the director of Patient Care Services in the Division of Clinical Services.  What you may not have known about Michael is his strength and strong commitment to his community during a life-threatening illness which has earned him the 2002 Sertoma Awards for “Significant and Meritorious Service to Mankind” from the Azalea Sertoma Club and the Sertoma District. Michael Irving is awarded the 2002 Sertoma Awards for “Significant and Meritorious Service to Mankind” from the Azalea Sertoma Club and the Sertoma District. Michael has been a resident of Summerville, S.C. since 1994. In October of 1994, after relocating his family to South Carolina, Michael was diagnosed with Non Hodgkin’s Lymphoma. He began an eight-month course of chemotherapy in November 1994. During this round of chemotherapy, Michael coached a team of young soccer players for both the YMCA and the Summerville Soccer Club. His team picture that year shows him proudly standing with his team of 10 year olds—bald from the drugs he had infused each week at MUSC. In February 1995, Michael went into remission, and decided to try to help serve the community in a way related to his disease. He began as a volunteer for the Relay for Life—building a team of walkers that walked all night to raise funds to find the cure for cancer. Later, he participated in the Race for the Cure as both a walker and a volunteer race coordinator. This has been an ongoing commitment.  Each October, Michael and his family set up the race boundaries and help time the racers in addition to other duties at that event. Michael continued to coach soccer and became a board member of the Summerville Soccer Club in early 1996. In 1998 he was elected president of that board. His goal was to build a clubhouse to provide bathrooms and concessions.  It was important to have the clubhouse for many reasons, but Michael’s main reason was to be able to generate income so that the club could provide scholarships to children who could not afford the fees to play soccer.  He also wanted to provide proper facilities for the many disabled players that the club sponsors in the Buddy Soccer program. This special program pairs a healthy, able-bodied child with a child with a disability. Children with all disabilities are invited to play without paying a fee. These special children range from deaf children, to physically or mentally challenged children.  With the help of community businesses and others, Michael raised more than $100,000 to build his dream clubhouse. During this time Michael was again diagnosed with cancer and began another course of chemotherapy in September of 2000. While undergoing this course of chemotherapy, he continued to supervise the completion of the clubhouse, and coaching his team of 13-year-old boys. In April 2002 Michael had to undergo a stem cell transplant. The chemotherapy did not put him into remission, and this was his only hope of survival. Just prior to that transplant, friends from MUSC and the soccer club joined Michael at the new clubhouse to celebrate the completion of his dream, and of his 50th birthday. Michael kept a journal of his treatment and his successes on the Internet. Family and friends from around the country and overseas checked on his progress via his Web page. Everyone experiencing this event with Michael said his journal changed their lives.  We are thankful that Michael courageously continues to fight his battle with cancer and we are proud to recognize Michael for his service to the community and his integral role as one of our valued Medical Center team members. Editor's note: Marilyn Sizemore, with the Sertoma Club, contributed to this article.