Area Native Pays Tribute to her Dad while

Raising Money for Cancer Research

Jamestown, New York:

By Scott Kindberg, The Sunday Post-Journal, Jamestown, New York. Photos by Roger Rosselli, Jr.

Copyright 2005, The Sunday Post-Journal. Reprinted with permission.

Last Thanksgiving, Melissa Gokey-Thomas and her parents, Todd and Mary, were riding in Melissa's car not far from her Magnolia, Texas, home.

The car was brand new, the first new vehicle Melissa had ever owned.

But in an instant, it was new no more. A driver in a car behind Melissa failed to stop in time and plowed into the back of her SUV.

The vehicle was heavily damaged. Fortunately, Melissa and her parents, who were visiting from Fluvanna, were OK.

"I was stiff, but I didn't think anything of it," Melissa said. Besides, the 29-year-old was used to minor aches and pains. As a triathlete, she had learned to live with the wear and tear on her body, successfully rehabbing from three knee surgeries to complete between 50 and 60 triathlons of various lengths in the last 10 years.

Still, the pain she felt in the middle of her back after the accident kept getting worse. It hurt when she drove and it was sore to the touch. Upon having it checked out, the doctor's diagnosis was two herniated disks. The prescribed treatment meant no running for two months.

"I thought I was done," Melissa said.

Not only was her dream to compete in the seventh annual USA Ironman Triathlon in Lake Placid in July in serious jeopardy, but her desire to pay tribute to her father and, by extension, raise money to help find a cure for a rare disease he has had for most of his life, was about to come to a screeching halt.

"I was terrified," she said.

Melissa was also determined. Guess which emotion won out?

* * *

Todd Gokey, 62, worked for Quality Markets until his retirement in 1998. He and Mary have been married for 39 years, have three grown children -- Melissa, Steve, and Bob -- and live on Old Fluvanna Road, a stone's throw from Chautauqua Lake.

"We had a great time raising the kids and doing things with then," Todd said as he sat at his kitchen table early last week.

"This has just been a wonderful experience."

His health? Well, that's been an altogether different story.

Fifty years ago, at the age of 12, Todd began experiencing "floaters" in his eyes. Yet it wasn't until he was 20, in 1963, that he could put a name with the problem. Called von Hippel-Lindau disease, it is a genetic multi-system disorder characterized by the abnormal growth of tumors in certain parts of the body. About one in 32,000 people have it, according to the VHL web site.

For the next we years, Todd underwent numerous eye surgeries, ultimately having one eye removed in 1986. The tumors also continued to grow in other parts of his body, including his brain and his spinal cord, and he was also diagnosed with cancer in his kidneys. Along the way, he's endured four brain surgeries and three kidney surgeries. Only a third of one kidney is functional.

"He's just such a fighter," said Melissa, a 1994 Maple Grove Junior-Senior High School graduate. "So many doctors have told him that he wouldn't live, and he's fought past what the doctors have told him."

Todd, whose brother died from the same disease, has been able to handle the emotional roller coaster thanks to an amazingly upbeat attitude, while adhering to a strict died and walking up to two miles a day.

"I've always tried to look at the glass as being half full rather than going down and out," Todd said. "This has helped me get by these things. I try not to ever think about it until I come right up to the wall and I have to deal with it. It's kind of on the front burner for a while, and then it goes to the back burner and then it comes back to the front burner."

In an effort to raise money and awareness for the Cancer Research Fund / Von Hippel-Lindau Alliance as well as pay tribute to her father, Melissa is preparing to compete in her first USA Ironman Triathlon in Lake Placid on July 24.

To take advantage of the Western New York hills, Melissa, a physical education teacher at Willow Creek Elementary School in Tomball, Texas, returned to her parents' home earlier this month and trains daily for the 2.4 mile swim, the 112 mile bike ride, and 26.2 mile marathon run.

Melissa's husband, Scott -- also a Maple Grove graduate -- is working back in Texas, but he will join a large contingent of family and friends in Lake Placid to root her on.

So far, Melissa has raised more than $44,000 in donations, all to benefit the Cancer Research Fund/VHL Alliance. She hopes that total will climb as high as $100,000 by the time she hits the water to begin the triathlon in five weeks. If she's the top fund-raiser among the triathletes she'll be rewarded in a big way.

Here's how it works: The Janus Capital Group will contribute additional money to the top 30 fund-raisers in the triathlon. If Melissa is the top fund-raiser, the Janus Fund will contribute $10,000 to VHL research.

"I want to gain awareness of VHL," Melissa said. I've received a lot of donations and I really want to raise money for them. That's my No. 1 goal -- and to get to the finish line."

Don't bet against her.

In a triathlon in Austin, Texas, on May 30, Melissa recorded a personal best [record] for the Olympic distance, placing sixth out of 95 athletes in her age group. She reports that her training in Western New York, which totals about 20 hours a week, is going well, thanks to on-line coaching from Mark Allen, a six time Ironman champion.

"I'm right on schedule," she said.

That's no surprise.

* * *

Melissa grew up a swimmer. In later years, she played basketball and ran track at Maple Grove and then remained fit during her college days at the State University at Fredonia by riding her bike and running even more.

About a decade ago, she competed in her first triathlon in Bemus Point.

"I just love the sport and I've been competitive in it for 10 years, and I've done fairly well," she said. "I like to win awards, so the competition drives me."

But for more than 13 hours, which is her target time? That's 75 minutes in the water, seven hours on the bike and five hours for the run.

"This seemed like the next step," Melissa said.

Her inspiration has been her father.

"I think I got that determination from him," she said. "Once he sets his mind to something, he does it. That's what I try to do. He's real positive. He always looks at the glass as half full. I don't know if I always do, but I think of him when I don't."

* * *

The kitchen in the Gokey home is immaculate. Even Melissa's water bottles and energy snacks, which she consumes while on one of her long training runs, are neatly arranged on the counter, awaiting her next workout.

As a visitor talks with the family, the phone rings several times. On two occasions, the calls are for Melissa from a triathlete, who lives in Bath and has competed in the Lake Placid race before. They exchange information and make plans to train together.

"Needless to say, we have a fire [drill] going on all the time for all kinds of things," Todd said, laughing.

It's obvious he's glad to have his daughter home, even if it's only for seven weeks.

I certainly was very flattered and honored that she would do [an Ironman] and especially that she would try and raise money for the VHL disease that I have," said Todd, who is grateful that all three of his children have tested negative for the disease.

Today, Melissa is scheduled to take a 6-hour, 15 minute bike ride followed by a 30-minute run. It's all part of a pre-determined workout schedule laid out by Allen, the Ironman champion. It's all part of her desire to cross the finish line in Lake Placid, to honor her Dad and to help VHL research.

"Doing the race in honor of my dad makes training so much easier," Melissa said. "I think about him and nothing is going to get in the way of the finish line."

Of course, before she hops on her bike today, Melissa and her parents plan to go out to eat. Living half a continent away, she doesn't have that opportunity very often.

Besides that, it's Todd's special day.

"I'm just glad I can be home this Father's Day," Melissa said. "Usually I'm not, so it's nice to be home and spend it with my dad."

Five weeks from now, Melissa will celebrate another Father's Day, this time in the water and on the hills of a small village in the Adirondacks.

"I'm going to see if the [race organizers] will let [my dad] give me my finisher medal at the end of the race," Melissa said.

Mary might need to join her husband for that presentation.

After all, someone will have to be in charge of passing out the Kleenex.

* * *

To help Melissa reach her goal of $100,000, one can donate on-line at http://www.vhl.org/ironwoman For more information about VHL, one may call 1-800-767-4VHL; e-mail info@vhl.org; or send donations to VHLFA, 2001 Beacon St, Suite 208, Boston, MA 02135-7787 USA.

More articles about Melissa in the press