MEGHAN GUATTERY and S. L. FULLER
Managing Editor and Editor in Chief
In Fall 2014, a student started his freshman year at Fredonia. As a criminal justice major, he made his home in Grissom Hall and quickly found himself a close-knit group of friends. Bringing an affinity for volleyball with him from his high school days in Niagara Falls, he could be found playing behind Chautauqua Hall. He could also be found playing ping pong with his friends, futilely trying his best to win a game. Sometimes he could be found making mischief with his friends, but more often, he could be found encouraging them, comforting them and — above all else — making them smile.
His name was Russell Wijesiriwardena, and sometimes he could be found in a hospital bed. But if you were lucky enough to meet him, you probably weren’t able to tell he had cancer.
“We knew he had cancer,” said sophomore business major and close friend Mark Monsegur. “But it almost felt like … we didn’t even acknowledge that he had cancer, because he was one of us.”
On Oct. 10, 18-year-old Wijesiriwardena died after a multi-year battle with Ewing’s Sarcoma — a vicious childhood bone cancer — after taking this semester off for medical leave. But it’s clear to his friends and loved ones that he didn’t lose the battle.
“When you die, it doesn’t mean you lost to cancer. Russell is beating cancer right now as we speak,” continued Monsegur. “You know why? Because of the memories that we’ve had with him. His life is still living on [in the form of] great memories.”
Wijesiriwardena was one of the first people Monsegur met during the Educational Development Program (EDP) summer JEWEL program, a two-week workshop designed to acquaint new EDP students with each other, the EDP program and its faculty.
Kanard Lewis, a sophomore audio/radio production major, met Wijesiriwardena through mutual friends in EDP, and remembers his indomitable spirit.
“He would have his moments where it would affect him, but it would just be a one-day or a few-hour thing,” said Lewis. “After that day was finished, he got back to being the healthy Russell, because that’s who he was … he got back to playing ping pong, watching movies, talking late at night and just being that same kind, fun Russell that we always knew and always will know.”
But the students weren’t the only ones who Wijesiriwardena left an impact on in EDP.
“When we sign up as educators, [we want to] mentor, motivate, inspire and lead, and quite often we learn as much from our students as they do from us,” said EDP Director David White. “Russell was certainly one of those students that I learned from. He inspired and motivated me.”
At the end of the course, the students were required to write a final essay. Wijesiriwardena brought his essay to Monsegur, asked him to read it, and asked if he should present it to the class. In this essay, Wijesiriwardena explained his journey since he had been diagnosed with cancer.
“I was stunned by it,” said Monsegur. “He never showed that to anybody, and for me, I was the first person who knew in this school … He asked me if he should do his speech and I told him, ‘Do what your heart says, Russell. If you feel like this is the group you want to open up to and you want to say that, say it.’”
And so he did.
“In class,” continued Monsegur, “he went in front of the entire EDP group, and he took off his hat, which revealed a spot where he did not grow hair because of radiation and chemotherapy.”
Despite how reserved Wijesiriwardena might have been at first about telling his story, he quickly started using at as a tool to relate to, and to inspire, anyone going through hard times. This wasn’t just limited to people on the Fredonia campus.
“I … graduated high school and went to college at SUNY Fredonia,” said Wijesiriwardena, addressing the crowd at the Niagara Falls and Lewiston joint Relay for Life event last May. “This is where I became happy. I made friends with numerous people that know that I have cancer, and they support me.”
Wijesiriwardena was named one of two honorary survivors. When the time came to give a speech, he fearlessly told his story.
“Achieving the Dean’s List was a big accomplishment my first semester of college because I did it while getting chemotherapy that didn’t even help me — it just pushed me down with fatigue and sickness,” continued Wijesiriwardena. “College wasn’t always fun because I was still sick. Learning to stay positive is the best thing I can do for myself and yourself.”
That’s who Wijesiriwardena was — a positive force among adversity. And he always had been. His mother, Sri Wijesiriwardena, would be the first to attest to that.
“As a mother, I feel things I never wanted to feel: deep sadness, failure — as if my life is falling apart. But one thing’s for sure — I always get up for my son,” said Sri. She was honored as a caregiver at the same Relay event. “He is the son everyone dreams of. He is bright, thoughtful and kind, considerate of others, a leader in school, yet he is quiet and humble. He was raised by a single mother [and] he is the second of four children, so he has been the man in the family.”
Wijesiriwardena also left behind two sisters, Angelica and Nadishani, and a little brother named Daniel, who is touted as his spitting image — both in looks and personality. Although Wijesiriwardena may not be here physically, he lives on in his friends, his family and everyone else he inspired.
“I told him when I visited him in hospice the week before he died — I promised him that my first kid is going to have his first name,” said Monsegur. “He inspired me, and he is somebody who will continue to inspire me, because he made me feel and know what it’s like to be accepted.”
Acceptance, perseverance and positivity are all part of Wijesiriwardena’s message that continues to reach people, just as he intended.
“With all the bad that comes out of cancer,” said Wijesiriwardena during his Relay for Life speech, “you can create something positive and powerful … I have inspired so many people in my life and you can do the same, just pay it forward.”
Photos courtesy of Sri Wijesiriwardena
[metaslider id=4000]