George MacDonnell<\/figcaption><\/figure>\nThe professors hosted Sean\u2019s father, Coast Guard Lt. Commander George MacDonnell, who delivered an emotional presentation in class about his son\u2019s, and his family\u2019s, long struggle. He described his son as the toughest person he\u2019s ever known, playing baseball up to two weeks before his passing, and insisting on staying awake for all his MRIs and scans, all while never complaining about the pain, the stress and worry, or the impact on his ability to just be a kid.<\/p>\n
Between regular trips to Boston for infusions and radiation treatments, Sean continued to live the life of a young boy, playing with his older brother, Owen; playing baseball, and watching the New York Mets play. He got the opportunity to throw out the first pitch at Citi Field before a Mets game, received a video message from former Boston Red Sox shortstop Xander Bogaerts, and got a personal tour of the New England Patriots locker room from Special Teams Captain Matthew Slater.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe impacted a lot of people, but he was just like a regular kid. He never complained,\u201d George MacDonnell said. \u201cYou will have never met a tougher person in your life.\u201d<\/p>\n
George MacDonnell also talked about the care he received from providers, most of which was exemplary, but some of which could have been delivered more sensitively. He reminded the students of the need to see the patient not just as a patient, but as a person.<\/p>\n
\u201cOne doctor told us it\u2019s highly possible the medications will make Sean sterile,\u201d George MacDonnell told the students. \u201cShe said it very casually, like it was very matter-of-fact and scientific. The human element just wasn\u2019t there. It\u2019s important just to know someone\u2019s there, someone cares. As burgeoning providers, just remember, there is a person on the other end.\u201d<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/web.uri.edu\/pharmacy\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/1223\/IMG_4274-300x200.jpg\")
Since MacDonnell\u2019s visit, students and faculty members have been collecting shells on Narragansett Beach and painting them with various designs. As the students studying oncology leave the College of Pharmacy to begin their Advanced Pharmacy Practice Experiential rotations for their last year in the Pharm D program, they will take the shells with them and place them on their journey so that random people might find them and learn about Sean and childhood cancer. While giving Sean\u2019s family a lasting tribute and a way to remember their beloved son, the URI students also get a lesson in compassionate care, Charpentier said.<\/p>\n
\u201cOur career goal is to help others,\u201d she said. \u201cSo we thought we would end the semester with this message: Let\u2019s put the patient first.\u201d<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/web.uri.edu\/pharmacy\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/1223\/IMG_4261-300x200.jpg\")
The Shells for Sean Facebook page<\/a> will help to raise public awareness of the struggles Sean and children like him face.<\/p>\n\u201cIf anyone finds a shell, please take a photo and post it on the Shells for Sean Facebook page,\u201d Celia MacDonnell said. \u201cStudents will take them on rotations, so they\u2019ll take them all over the country and the world. The family will be able to track where the shells end up as a lasting tribute to Sean. In addition to the tribute, it\u2019s really for children\u2019s cancer awareness. These are people going through a lot. Hopefully this can help.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
\u2018Shells for Sean\u2019 tribute remembers grandson of pharmacy professor, spreads awareness of childhood cancer University of Rhode Island College of Pharmacy students are learning about childhood cancer and the impact it has on young patients and their families, while contributing to a lasting tribute to a young boy gone too soon. Sean MacDonnell was just […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1710,"featured_media":51801,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[35],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-51800","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/web.uri.edu\/pharmacy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/51800","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/web.uri.edu\/pharmacy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/web.uri.edu\/pharmacy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/web.uri.edu\/pharmacy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1710"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/web.uri.edu\/pharmacy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=51800"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/web.uri.edu\/pharmacy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/51800\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":51807,"href":"https:\/\/web.uri.edu\/pharmacy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/51800\/revisions\/51807"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/web.uri.edu\/pharmacy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/51801"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/web.uri.edu\/pharmacy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=51800"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/web.uri.edu\/pharmacy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=51800"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/web.uri.edu\/pharmacy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=51800"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/web.uri.edu\/pharmacy\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/1223\/IMG_4285-300x200.jpg\")
\u201cHe lived with it since his fourth birthday, when he started his first clinical trial,\u201d MacDonnell said. \u201cEvery day in the U.S., about 45 children are diagnosed with cancer, and yet only 4 percent of federal funding goes to pediatric cancer research. It is also very difficult to do clinical trials on kids; parents and pharmaceutical companies are reluctant. That is something we kind of want our students to pick up on\u2026 What does it take? What do people go through during clinical trials? What effect does it have on families? We want them to think of everything; what the patient is going through, what it takes to get that drug to the point that now we know it works. It starts with these children. Adults are not the only ones who are involved in drug trials.\u201d<\/p>\n![\"George](\"https:\/\/web.uri.edu\/pharmacy\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/1223\/IMG_4092-300x200.jpg\")