Updated: Saturday, October 24, 1998 at 00:56 CDT
Dying mom roots for son:
Haltom City woman gets to see teen play first varsity game
By Tara Dooley
Star Telegram Staff Writer
HALTOM CITY -- For the Haltom High School Buffalos, taking the field last night was a weekly ritual of the football season.For 40 year old Kathy Creamer, it was the game of a lifetime.Creamer, who was sent home from the hospital this week after a failed attempt to stop the damage to her body from a cancer that had claimed her lungs and stomach, learned Thursday that her 15-year-old son, Josh Vaughn, would be called up to play his first varsity game under the lights of the Buffalos' home at Birdville Stadium."I promised him I would see him play on this field," Creamer said. "Since I don't have much time left, I said, 'I'm going, I don't care how I get there.'"She got there with the help of the MedStar ambulance service, her hospice nurse and her family and friends. Propped up on a hospital bed that was positioned near an end zone and wrapped in flannel and wool, she watched her son in his black and orange uniform play as a defensive linebacker against the L.D. Bell High School Blue Raiders.The football game and the game ball were dedicated to Creamer and her son."It was such a thrill," Vaughn said. "She goes through so much with all of the chemo. For her to come out here -- it was overwhelming to me. She's the strongest person I know." After making his way through Haltom City peewee football leagues and Haltom High's junior varsity, Vaughn got a chance to paly varsity as a sophomore -- with his mother to cheer him on -- when a teammate injured an arm, assistant coach David Wood said. "We had an injury, and we needed someone to step up," Wood said. "Josh was doing a real nice job for us, so he was the one."Like most mothers, Creamer had words of encouragement before an important moment in her son's life, she said. "I told him, 'Good Luck, I'm proud of you, and I love you,'" she said. From the sidelines, she cheered him on, calling out, "Get him, Josh," and she threw up her hands when the Buffalos scored a touchdown. The game was not even close as Haltom High defeated L.D. Bell High, 45-28."It would be good if they were losing. It's especially good that they are winning," Creamer said. "My boy is out there. That is all that counts." Creamer, a nurse for 18 years, has raised two teen-age sons and a 6-year-old daughter -- most of the time on her own, she said. In 1996, the Haltom City resident was found to have lung cancer, which later spread to her stomach, she said. Creamer said she contines with chemotherapy medication, although docotors have not offered much hope."She attacked it aggressively," said family friend Connie Folsom, who accompanied Creamer to the game. "She fought it. She has always had an upbeat, positive attitude." Creamer said she hopes to live at least until Nov. 13, when her 18-year-old son, Justin Vaughn, will finish U.S. Marine Corps boot camp. Although she realizes that she won't be able to be there when he finishes, knowing that he is a Marine is important to her, she said. "Tonight was so special and so important for me to be out here," Creamer said. "I only have the time God gives me."
Gene Mendez contributed to this report.
� 1998 Fort Worth Star-Telegram
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