Every night I watch the NBC World News. My favorite part is the last segment which focuses on an inspirational story that conveys positivity in a world that is filled with so much negativity. It’s about being “Swirls Strong”, a way I now live my life after meeting a cancer patient, Matthew “Swirls” Cirelli, through the Mass General Hospital Marathon Team Fighting Kids Cancer. I’m hoping you can follow the lead of the Metro West Daily News and share my inspirational story with your readership.
My name is Scott Hilt. I grew up in Westfield, where my family still lives, and graduated Westfield High School in 1991. Despite being a current resident of Marlborough, MA my heart lies in The Whip City.
I am Swirls Strong!
There’s so much meaning behind the phrase “Swirls Strong”. It’s a way of life governed by three basic, but profound principles…Faith, Family and Friends. It’s the act of celebrating and appreciating life every single day, especially when faced with life changing or potentially life ending obstacles. It’s about giving and helping others because you want to and believing it’s the right thing to do without expecting anything in return. It’s about being humble, but confident, optimistic, and strong. It’s about the power of a smile.
In 2013, at the age of 40, I learned about living Swirls Strong from a 19 year old friend named Matthew “Swirls” Cirelli. He earned his nickname because of his curly blonde hair. I met Swirls in February 2013 through the Patient Partner Program of the Mass General Hospital Boston Marathon Team Fighting Kids Cancer. The Program pairs runners with children who are or who have received treatment at the MGH Children’s Cancer Center.
At the time, Matthew was celebrating being cancer free after years of treatment and multiple surgeries battling Ewing’s Cell Sarcoma. We talked on the phone and over lunches. Swirls was a passionate fan of all Boston sports. We had a blast at Fenway routing the Red Sox to victory and singing “Take Me Out To The Ballgame”. Matthew relapsed that summer only to beat the disease once again. His cancer came back in October and Swirls eventually lost his battle with the disease on December 8, 2013.
Despite the physical pain resulting from enduring treatment and being forced to defer his college plans, Matthew’s spirit and outlook, unbelievably to me, never ever waivered. Even though I only had the opportunity to know Swirls for a short time, he has forever changed my life. I can only hope that my 2 ½ year old son grows up to embody everything Matthew stood for and embrace his outlook on life.
His family and friends created Swirls Around The World Facebook page to celebrate his life and to perpetuate everything he stood for. They made yellow Swirls Strong bracelets which people take with them, around the world, and post pictures to commemorate all the places he never had a chance to visit and to ensure his spirit lives on.
On April 20th I’ll be running my 9th marathon, 6th consecutive Boston Marathon, with the last three years as part of the Mass General Team. Because of research and treatment organizations like MGH the pediatric cancer survival rate is now 85%…but our work is now done! Matthew would want nothing more than to bring additional awareness and support to finding a cure so that other children will be able to experience all the wonderful experiences that life has to offer.
I wanted to tell you his story hoping it would make the world a better place. I am Swirls Strong!
I have an admission to make. I did not think that the Think Tank section of the newspaper would be worth reading since it was people of high school age writing about whatever the subject happened to be. Shame on me. I just read the April 4 paper. In it, they comment on the USA in talks with Iran on letting them go forward with their nuclear ambitions. I would much rather have most of these high school students in charge of these “talks” than John Kerry or our President. No matter what most of these politicians say these days , they always seem like they must have ulterior motives. Politicians on both sides of the isle. We can only speculate what those motives are but I do not think peace is on their minds. I do not believe that it is on the minds of the leaders in Iran that chant “Death to America”. Thank you to the students for keeping my hope alive.
