In some ways, they were lucky injuries.
“He couldn’t walk on it so we took him and got it X-rayed,” Larry Kunka said.
When doctor’s could not find anything wrong, Larry scheduled an MRI for his son, wanting to get to the bottom of it.
“While we were having that done, I told them he needed some blood work done,” Larry Kunka said.
That was Dec. 23, 2006. While they were driving home from the appointment, their home phone rang. Turn around, bring him back, was the message.
But the parents did not want to mess up Colin’s Christmas so they delayed a few days and took him back on the 26th.
Their son had leukemia.
But now, three years later, Colin had his last chemotherapy treatment on Feb. 1 and is looking forward to a healthy future.
He will be checked, of course, and be followed closely for the next three years.
“He’s very active in sports,” Colin’s father said.
His fifth-grade teacher at Mound, Jennifer Aunspaw, said she’s amazed at Colin’s resilience.
“If you looked at a whole bunch of kids, you would not be able to pick him out,” she said.
“He’s a great kid.”
Colin’s on the honor roll and never let his illness color his life. “Despite having this adversity, he just plows through,” she said.
Last fall, when Mound’s student council chose a spring project, they signed up for “Pennies for Patients.” Coincidentally, it raises money for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society.
If that coincidence doesn’t gain your attention, consider this: “We kicked off our Pennies for Patient’s drive on the same day (Colin) had his last chemo treatment,” Aunspaw said.
Besides having a good cause for their campaign, they have a ready example of one who’d faced leukemia and stared it down, pushed it away.
Aunspaw, who is student council adviser, said students went to home room classrooms and made their pitch. They explained how Colin was their hero.
They sold paper pennies. For every dollar that was contributed, students bought a paper penny that was used to cover a banner that read “Mound Making Leukemia Disappear.”
At first they just planned on covering the word “leukemia.”
“We sold so many paper pennies that we actually covered the entire banner,” Aunspaw said.
Then they had to start a second hallway.
The school’s principal, Tammy Sundermann, was so pleased she rewarded the entire school with popcorn.
Contests among home rooms resulted in Smencils (‘smelly pencils’ ... don’t ask) as rewards. Second and third place classrooms got a cookie party and a candy party.
On Feb. 19, the entire student body was rewarded with bags of popcorn. Sundermann held it until they had finished eating lunch.
Colin, 11, says he’s feeling fine.
He lives in Miamisburg with his parents, Larry and Linda Kunka. Colin has two brothers, Dylan, 15, and Anthony, 22.
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