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Teacher's cancer touches many
By JOSH ZIMMER, Times Staff Writer KEYSTONE -- Where was coach Hartley? Always a lively presence around Walker Middle School, Darin Hartley suddenly dropped off the scene in late October. The shy but enthusiastic face that earned friends everywhere was nowhere to be found. Students and some teachers who were used to seeing Hartley roam the gym and hallways had no way of knowing that his world had just come apart. After several days of feeling unusually tired, he was diagnosed with mononucleosis and told to rest. Then the blood work came back. His doctor ordered him rushed to the emergency room at St. Joseph's Hospital in Tampa. The high white blood cell count told a harsh truth. At age 26, Hartley, gym teacher, father, husband and sports fanatic, had life-threatening leukemia. A void descended upon the school, a close-knit place some describe as being like family. Principal Kathy Flanagan waited about a week before broadcasting the sad news during the school's morning announcements. Letters were sent home informing parents about his illness and asking them to help any way they could. Calls started coming in that night from parents offering to donate blood and bone marrow, Flanagan said. "I thought that was so cool," she said. "The kids really, really love him. One big family." The affection showed in the fundraising efforts. A daytime bake sale at Walker in early November created a near mob scene around the gym, raising about $3,000 for a special fund at First Union Bank that will help Hartley and his wife, Heather, pay their nonmedical bills. He no longer is getting paid and Heather Hartley can only work part time as a dental assistant while she cares for her husband. Darin Hartley is on medical leave through next summer, which will keep his position open at least until then. Luckily, Heather Hartley said, his insurance policy is paying for the chemotherapy during that period. A Christmas drive raised hundreds of dollars, and at least two more events are planned for Jan. 25 and Feb. 23, said Betsy Dillon, a sixth-grade math teacher and close friend of the Hartleys. She hopes the fundraisers will add thousands of dollars to the Hartley fund. "It's heartbreaking to see somebody who's 26 years old in good health and so vibrant (suffer)," she said. "I miss his smile more than anything else." The Hartleys are taking solace in the outpouring of affection. One teacher, Walker social studies department head Deanna Morrow, even watched the Hartleys' two young daughters while he interviewed at a Missouri hospital where he currently is being treated. He, Heather and their daughters -- Lauryn, 3, and Kaitlyn, 1 -- moved to St. Louis temporarily so they could be near relatives. Hartley, whose thinning hair shows the effects of chemotherapy, was scheduled to be released this weekend after five grueling days of treatment. But that's when his nausea and fatigue will set in and his white cell count will rise precipitously, which means the kids probably won't be around Christmas morning as he struggles with the symptoms, his wife said. "No one had any kind of cancer in any of our families," Hartley said. "I didn't know if I had weeks, months, years. Is it beatable? I mean, when you hear cancer, you think the worst. I was scared. Any time someone tells you something like that, you're going to be scared." Some days he feels more optimistic than others. A cancer that takes various forms, leukemia generally invades the bone marrow and lymph nodes, suppressing the production of healthy blood cells. It causes 22,000 deaths every year. But Hartley continually talks about beating the disease. "I'm planning on it," Hartley said before learning last week he probably would not need a bone marrow transplant. "It's not up to me anyway, it's up to God. The first round went good. I'm hoping." Quiet and unassuming, Hartley grew up in Hannibal, Mo., the second of four children. Small-built, he showed a penchant for sports and competition, traits that would later lead him toward a degree in physical education at the University of South Florida. In much the same way Hartley was slated to be a gym teacher, he and his wife seemed fated to spend their lives together. Heather Hartley, who is three years older than her husband and moved to Hannibal when she was a junior in high school, said they had heard of each other but never met. A friend once told Hartley, who was taken by her looks, not to even bother asking her out. But, coincidentally, they ran into each other at a bar the night after he had stopped her from slipping down a wet hill. "We . . . started talking and have been together every night since," she said. That was six years ago. She followed him to Florida when he decided to study physical education at USF. In April, they celebrated their third anniversary. "They've always had a very special relationship," said Ruth Garner, Heather Hartley's sister. "They always remember each other throughout the day, whether they leave notes or call each other. "I have seen a strength in both of them I haven't seen before. This has helped them grow a lot in their Christian faith." Although slow to open up, Darin Hartley was able to endear himself to the family, largely because of his ability to relate to children, Garner said. Her two sons are crazy about him. "He becomes a child with them," she said. At Walker, students gravitate toward both his childlike enthusiasm and ability to discipline. "He acts sort of like a kid and he's really nice," said Laurel Corrao, a sixth-grader who had Hartley for the after-school program and is watching an aunt battle cancer. "He will ask, if people don't look so happy, what's wrong." In a video from the bake sale that was sent to Hartley, she said, "I hope you get better. Come back as soon as possible." Garner wishes the family were not so spread apart, so they could be together more during Hartley's illness. She and her father live in Georgia, and her other siblings live in Missouri and Colorado. Hartley's family, including his mother, Sue Ann Hartley, live in Missouri. "It's been difficult for us because we haven't been there," Garner said. "And the fact it's happening to our baby sister, we all want to do something." But they have managed to stay close. Garner's church even donated sweaters for her sister and nieces. Heather Hartley and her mother-in-law have been splitting care duties. One cares for the children while the other tends to Darin Hartley, then they switch. They refuse to wait for the nurses when he needs care. "He gets these fevers," Heather Hartley said. "You have to change the sheets three and four times a night." Darin Hartley, meanwhile, is awaiting more chemotherapy treatments. One consequence of his illness is that those close to him are putting their own lives into perspective. At a birthday party for Kaitlyn that some teachers organized last weekend at Keystone Park, co-worker Jody Woods cradled her 31/2-month-old baby, Jacob, in her arms. "(Hartley is) younger than me," said Woods, a physical education teacher. "It makes you think about the people you love." - Josh Zimmer can be reached at 928-3632. People interested in helping the Hartley family may contribute to the "For the Benefit of Donald (Darin) Hartley" fund at any First Union bank branch. The account number is 3000039794973.
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