Firefighters Son Looses Life Battle
In late December, 2006, Sean lost his battle against Leukemia.
Local soccer star, 18, loses cancer battle
BY LYN DOWLING
For FLORIDA TODAY
Community loss. Sean Hargreaves of Melbourne blocks a shot during a District Semifinal game in January of this year. Ryan Seeloff, for FLORIDA TODAY
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Powered by Topix.netSean Hargreaves, the Melbourne High School, Melbourne Central Catholic High School and Brevard Youth Soccer League star whose courage inspired a countywide effort to help him battle cancer, died Tuesday.
He was 18 years old.
Hargreaves, a BYSL product who became one of the state’s outstanding young goalkeepers, was a former member of the Olympic Development Program for players born in 1988.
The West Melbourne resident started his high school career at Melbourne, where he excelled as a freshman, but transferred to MCC to play with his brother, Justin Hargreaves, before his sophomore year.
Hargreaves returned to Melbourne and played for Coach Jerry McCabe last season, despite his illness.
McCabe called him, “One of my favorite players, ever.”
Diagnosed with T-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia after having discovered a swollen lymph node two years ago, he was treated at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute in Boston at the suggestion of local doctors, and thereafter he and his family were required to make frequent trips to Massachusetts.
Doctors declared him terminally ill last month.
After his diagnosis, the gravity of his condition and expense of his treatment led to a drive to assist him and his family, who were faced with estimated expenses of more than $1 million.
Because his father, former college soccer player and local coach Eric Hargreaves, is a firefighter-paramedic in Melbourne, the International Association of Fire Fighters, Local 1951, developed the Web site www.helpsean.com and set up a trust fund in Hargreaves’ name.
Students at MCC and Melbourne raised funds for the family, and “LiveSean” wristbands and T-shirts bearing his name and number – 00 – continue to pop up at prep and youth matches throughout the area. Web sites of youth soccer teams for which he played continue to carry messages of support for Hargreaves and his family.
“Everyone wanted to help. We did what we could,” said Ra Popham of Indialantic, commissioner of Florida Youth Soccer Association District 5-B. “We’re just heartbroken for his family.”
Sean Hargreaves is survived by his father; his mother, Chris Hargreaves, and his brother, Justin Hargreaves.
Donations to the Sean Hargreaves Trust Fund can be dropped off or mailed to BB&T Bank, 450 East Eau Gallie Blvd., Indian Harbor Beach, FL 32937.
In Loving Memory...
Rest In Peace Sean
Sean Hargreaves
1988 - 2006
May God take you now into his loving arms and welcome you into His kingdom. You will be missed and never forgotten. Your fight is now over and you can rest. Please know that we were all blessed to have known you. That wretched disease might have taken your physical body from us but your spirit will live on in each of us who knew and loved you. As your spirit lives on in our memories so too will it live on in heaven. And someday, when His will determines that our time too has passed here on this earth, we shall see you again. Until then, Rest In Peace.
