To the Editor:
It saddens your heart when you read about a teenager who does everything right and ends up on dialysis. Reading the story of Otis Harris does just that. His wrestling coach, Joe Collins, said it best when he said, “It really isn’t fair.”
What caught my attention is that Otis Harris is a wrestler at Bayonne High School and I was fortunate to meet another wrestler from Bayonne High School, David Colon, who helped me shovel the sidewalk where I park my car during the last snowstorm we had. Judging from what I read about Otis Harris and having met David Colon, the sport of wrestling has two members that any parent can be proud of. They both are a credit to wrestling and to the teachers and coaches they have at Bayonne High School.
It would be a fitting tribute to Otis Harris and to his parents to attend the fundraiser for him on Saturday, April 18, at 7 p.m. at the Masonic Club at 880 Avenue C in Bayonne, which is being sponsored by the Bayonne PAL.
Having had a close friend who also was on dialysis and witnessing the pain he had endured, your heart goes out to Otis Harris and you wish him the strength necessary to continue these treatments while a kidney donor is found. He truly needs the support of each of us to survive this ordeal, which at times is debilitating and snaps your strength and will to live.
THOMAS J. BRAGEN