By: Edir Coronado
The White Diamond’s 2nd Annual “Tylor’s Burger Battle” will be held November 16, 2016 at Clark White Diamond at 1207 Raritan Rd., Clark. All proceeds will benefit The Tylor Collin’s Scholarship Fund, a non-profit organization dedicated to helping local youth achieve their dreams. First round starts at 5 p.m. Entry fee is $30.00. Advanced registration is required call 732-672-5771.
Tylor Collins, Tammy and Kevin’s son, passed away on April 25, 2015 from Ewing Sarcoma, one-day shy of his 17th birthday. “The day my son passed away I vowed to never let him be forgotten,” expressed Tammy. She explains that for two years she dedicated her life to taking care of Tylor through his difficult moments and now that he passed, she will spend her life making sure his name is never forgotten.
According to St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital; although rare, Ewing Sarcoma, is the second most common bone cancer found in children and young adults. About 200 hundred children and young adults are diagnosed with this cancer a year in the United States. About half of those that are diagnosed with Ewing Sarcoma are between the ages of 10-20.
Symptoms can easily be overlooked if one is not familiar with this rare cancer. Some Ewing Sarcoma indicators include; swelling or soreness around the area of the tumor, which according to St. Jude’s, can be mistaken for a sports injury; low fever; bone pain; and limping.
The rarity of Ewing Sarcoma and commonality of symptoms among other conditions makes it difficult to bring awareness to the public, but this has not deterred Tammy and Kevin Collins of Clark, New Jersey from spreading the word about it.
In order to accomplish this, Tammy and Kevin, along with three of their cherished friends, created a foundation in Tylor’s memory in order to keep his name alive. Participants in “Tylor’s Burger Battle” are allotted ten minutes to eat as many burgers as they possibly can. All proceeds raised from the event are allocated directly to the scholarship fund.
Last year’s burger battle was a huge success, the winner, Mike Boulanger, a dear friend of Tylor’s, consumed 11 ½ burgers in ten minutes, more importantly, monies raised through the event were awarded to 10 students from Tylor’s graduating class, each in the amount of $1,500.
Tammy is saddened by the fact that she could not watch her son Tylor walk across the stage to receive his diploma and while Tylor’s brother, Brandon, was present to receive the honors, she feels her son and family were cheated of experiencing and witnessing such memorable moments.
While Tylor’s family is understandably melancholy, they are excited about helping other students achieve their goals, “It is certainly a difficult yet bittersweet time, but I know we are making Tylor proud and keeping his memory alive,” explains Tammy.
Tammy and Kevin aspire to build on last year’s success. “We hope to grow this event, with your help in getting the word out to the people that we may not be able to reach,” explained Tammy; efforts are not solely reliant on the burger battle.
