Police Wear Shorts, Raise Money For Boy With Rare Form Of Cancer

OLD SAYBROOK, CT — Everytime you see Old Saybrook police wearing shorts this summer, they are actually fundraising for a brave local boy currently engaged in the fight of his life.

The department is participating in a fundraising campaign called Shorts4Sean, which aims to raise money for 4-year-old Sean MacDonnell, a local boy who lives just blocks away from the department.

According to the campaign's website, Sean has been diagnosed with stage 3 Rhabdomyosarcoma, a rare cancer found in less than 300 children in the country each year.

When Sean's parents, Christine and George, first noticed a small mass on the side of their son's neck in February, his pediatrician thought it was a swollen lymph node.

Though they began to treat it with antibiotics, the mass grew rapidly and Sean's parents took their son to a radiologist, who determined it was a tumor.

"My heart sank," Christine MacDonnell wrote on the website. "I panicked. I had no words."

After his diagnosis, doctors deemed the location of the tumor was inoperable due to its close proximity to his spine, facial nerves and major arteries. He then began chemotherapy treatment and was discharged on his 4th birthday after his first dose of medicine.

His case was later transferred to the Dana Farber Cancer Institute in Boston, an approximately 6-7 hour round-trip drive at least once a week, as he undergoes "an intense treatment plan of chemo and radiation" for the next 10-12 months.

To help offset all of the costs associated with Sean's treatment, police are donating $5 a day to wear a summer-style uniform consisting of a polo shirt and shorts.

"The Police Union has graciously committed to matching each police officer's donation," police said on Facebook, "now we are looking to inspire our community and beyond to help this young man and his family during his courageous battle."

All donations will be presented to Sean's parents at the end of the summer. Checks should be made out to "OSPD - Shorts4Sean."

"The Old Saybrook Police will be coordinating this important fundraiser all summer long," police said. "We can do this Old Saybrook, we can help Sean and his family defray many of their expenses so they can concentrate on one thing - beating Sean's cancer!"

To donate and to learn more about Sean, visit www.shorts4sean.com.

Photo credit: Old Saybrook Police Department Facebook page