The Class of 2020: Helping others while going through challenges
May 12, 2020, 6:52 AM | Updated: Dec 30, 2022, 11:36 am
Erin Estheimer is graduating from Clearfield High School in the Class of 2020. The standout soccer player is helping others while her mother battles terminal cancer. (Photo: Kelli Pierce)
(Photo: Kelli Pierce)
WEST POINT, Utah – Erin Estheimer has never missed a soccer game or even a team practice at Clearfield High School. She’s also got great grades and is going to Central Wyoming College on a full scholarship this fall. It’s incredibly impressive because she did all this while her mother was battling terminal cancer.
“About a year ago, my mom was diagnosed with cervical cancer, and it spread throughout her body. She had to have major surgery to get rid of most of her organs [that were] affected,” Estheimer says.
Erin Estheimer was always visiting her mother in the hospital, even with school and soccer practice on her plate.
Her mother, Trish, had been given six months to live and did not think she’d ever see her daughter graduate.
But as Trish Estheimer was scrolling Facebook one day, she found the Adopt A Senior group, which lets people give gifts to other members of the Class of 2020.
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“We adopted a few seniors. One kid, he had cancer, so we kinda relate to him. Others just don’t have high self-esteem, and so we adopted them and we have just been giving them gifts every once in a while,” Erin Estheimer explains.
They have also helped organize the entire group.
The gift-giving has been good for Erin as well, helping get her mind off everything that has happened and giving back to those in need.
“It’s been really fun. So many people gave us things during tough times. And to see what some kids go through, like, I haven’t been in their footsteps, but they’ve had trials, too. It’s nice to give back to the community like they gave to us,” Estheimer says.
Trish Estheimer is still here today and is overjoyed to see her daughter graduate. She’s also proud of what they’ve accomplished.
“It’s given me such a different perspective on life because to be told you have six months left to live and to get your affairs in order…I shouldn’t have been here past February. To see this come and kind of drop in my lap and to feel like I’m able to move forward has just been a riot. [Erin] has been more involved with giving. She doesn’t care if she receives anything, and I know the gift of giving has just been inspiring,” Estheimer says.
Erin Estheimer plans to study nursing in the fall. She says she is inspired by all the nurses who helped her mother.
Hear Kelli’s interview with Erin below
