Ray_BearKat
04-22-2007, 10:58 PM
Alejo overcomes tragedy to find success
Peter Rasmussen
April 22, 2007 - 12:02AM
Dustin Alejo wished he was fully immersed in athletics and hanging out with buddies, not sitting up every night wondering if his little brother would be around the next day.
The world of a then 14-year-old Alejo was blackened by the death of his younger brother.
But three years ago Alejo struggled with just that, watching as a killer disease slowly took his brother. Alejo’s brother, Zack, battled leukemia and eventually died from the malady in May 2004 at age 11 — nine months after he was first diagnosed.
“I took it hard,” Alejo said. “I felt as a big brother I should do something to protect him, but I couldn’t do anything. I kept asking why it wasn’t me. He was my mom’s baby, and I knew how hard it was going to be for her.
“I just kept thinking, ‘Why? Why couldn’t it have been me?’”
Although Alejo, now a 16-year-old sophomore track & field standout for Raymondville, and his family knew they didn’t have much time left with Zack, nothing could have prepared them for that May morning, especially Alejo.
His brother’s death left Alejo depressed and angry.
“He didn’t say much,” said his mother, Sylvia Silva. “He kept it all in. He really did not now how to express his feelings.”
The bottled emotions eventually affected Alejo’s social and school life. He wasn’t getting along with teachers and other students.
His grades suffered, and his attitude only helped build walls around a boy who didn’t know how to grieve.
“I imagine when you experience something like that at a young age it takes its toll,” said Alejo’s distant cousin, Kevin Vera. “What made it worse was that he didn’t vent all his problems.”
By the time high school rolled around, Vera, who was a voluntary Raymondville track coach last season, helped Alejo realize that if he wanted to be successful in athletics and in life, he would have to find a way to let go of the anger from his little brother’s death.
Experiencing Death
Alejo, who has 9-year old twin brothers named Corey and Cody, has competed in sports since the age of 6, and his brothers always have been there for support.
“(Zack) would just get a kick out of seeing his big brother blow away his age group and win his events,” said Vera, who is a 24-year-old firefighter from McAllen.
Zack could not join sports because of a heart transplant he received when he was born, as the left side of his heart was underdeveloped. Although no major side effects or sickness resulted from the procedure, Zack was forced to limit his physical activity.
“(Zack) did very good,” Silva said. “His body never rejected the heart. He would run around with Dustin and play basketball, but he knew his limits.”
It looked as if Zack would have a normal life until he complained of back pain in August 2003. After a trip to the doctor, he was diagnosed with lymphoma and later leukemia.
Silva said doctors were optimistic at first, but Zack’s health deteriorated.
“We spent a lot of time in hospitals and doctor’s offices.” Silva said. “The year Zack got sick, we did our trick-or-treating in the hospital.”
Alejo said Zack only saw him compete twice during his illness.
“I enjoyed him coming out to watch me,” Alejo said. “I just always wanted him there to see me compete.”
By the time of Zack’s death, he had lost much of his bodily functions. Realizing the end was near, Alejo spent the night in Zack’s room the night before his death. Both watched Miracle, a movie about the gold-medal winning 1980 United States Olympic hockey team.
“I knew he was going to die, but I didn’t expect he was going to die then that morning,” Alejo said. “He didn’t move or talk, and I knew then that he was gone.”
Silva said she did what she could to comfort him.
“Dustin used to feel so guilty,” Silva said. “He would say, ‘Mom, I feel bad because I was mean to Zack sometimes.’ I just told him that they were brothers and brothers fight. At the end they were very close, and that is what I told him mattered.”
Dark Days and Better Days
During and after Zack’s illness and death, Alejo’s social life was crashing.
He was, by all accounts, a very talented athlete in middle school. But his ability on the track and the football field was being overshadowed by his behavior — talking back to teachers, earning detentions, struggling with grades and not getting along with his peers.
“He was going through a lot at home and trying to deal with his brother’s death,” Silva said. “The teachers did not know that Dustin lost a brother. He did not know how to express his anger, so he would let it out by acting out at school.”
Vera described him as lost when he first entered high school.
“By the time he got to Raymondville he was branded a bad kid,” Vera said. “I think teachers just thought he was bad and thought he wouldn’t change.
Silva said Alejo could not turn to his father, Joey, because his dad has not always been a constant figure in his life since his parents divorced soon after the birth of his twin brothers.
“I was just mad at the world,” Alejo said. “I had a lot of anger, and I just didn’t want to talk to anyone.”
Then Alejo was pounded with a nice dose of reality. His grades kept him out for much of his freshman season during the Bearkats’ junior varsity football season. He realized it was time for change.
“He had a real bad attitude when he first came here,” close friend and Lady Bearkats track athlete Nicole Garcia said. “I used to tell him he needed to change because high school was not junior high. I told him the coaches at high school wouldn’t put up with him.”
With Vera near, he could keep tabs on Alejo. Vera checked in with Alejo’s teachers, and any bad report led to tougher practices for Alejo.
“Kevin played a big role in my life,” Alejo said. “He told me, ‘You need to do better.’ Kevin was there for me when I needed it the most. I see him as a big brother.”
Garcia said Alejo has matured immensely from his first day as a freshman.
“He has let go a lot,” Silva said. “Having Kevin there for him has helped him a lot to be able to find someone to talk to about it. It helped him let go of a lot of his anger.”
It has allowed Alejo to find success in athletics. He was named the District 31-3A newcomer of the year for the past football season. He owns the second-best Rio Grande Valley time this year in the 200-meter dash (21.75). Last weekend in Zapata, he won the district championship in the 100 and 200, and he is the first leg of the district-winning 400 and 800 relay teams.
He will be in action at the Region IV-3A meet next weekend in Kingsville.
“I don’t know much about his past,” Bearkats track coach Tony Niemeier said. “All I know is that when he got to me, he was a good kid. I have never had any trouble with him.”
When Alejo steps onto the track at the regional meet, it will be dedicated to his No. 1 fan — Zack.
“I always think about (Zack) at every track meet” Alejo said. “I always tell him, ‘I’ll meet you at the finish line.’”
http://www.themonitor.com/pictures/1177218160-trackweb.jpg
Raymondville track star Dustin Alejo, 16, lost his younger brother, Zack, to leukemia in 2004, nine months after he was diagnosed. Alejo acted out in a bad way after his brother’s death, but has turned his life around. Kirsten Luce/The Monitor
Peter Rasmussen
April 22, 2007 - 12:02AM
Dustin Alejo wished he was fully immersed in athletics and hanging out with buddies, not sitting up every night wondering if his little brother would be around the next day.
The world of a then 14-year-old Alejo was blackened by the death of his younger brother.
But three years ago Alejo struggled with just that, watching as a killer disease slowly took his brother. Alejo’s brother, Zack, battled leukemia and eventually died from the malady in May 2004 at age 11 — nine months after he was first diagnosed.
“I took it hard,” Alejo said. “I felt as a big brother I should do something to protect him, but I couldn’t do anything. I kept asking why it wasn’t me. He was my mom’s baby, and I knew how hard it was going to be for her.
“I just kept thinking, ‘Why? Why couldn’t it have been me?’”
Although Alejo, now a 16-year-old sophomore track & field standout for Raymondville, and his family knew they didn’t have much time left with Zack, nothing could have prepared them for that May morning, especially Alejo.
His brother’s death left Alejo depressed and angry.
“He didn’t say much,” said his mother, Sylvia Silva. “He kept it all in. He really did not now how to express his feelings.”
The bottled emotions eventually affected Alejo’s social and school life. He wasn’t getting along with teachers and other students.
His grades suffered, and his attitude only helped build walls around a boy who didn’t know how to grieve.
“I imagine when you experience something like that at a young age it takes its toll,” said Alejo’s distant cousin, Kevin Vera. “What made it worse was that he didn’t vent all his problems.”
By the time high school rolled around, Vera, who was a voluntary Raymondville track coach last season, helped Alejo realize that if he wanted to be successful in athletics and in life, he would have to find a way to let go of the anger from his little brother’s death.
Experiencing Death
Alejo, who has 9-year old twin brothers named Corey and Cody, has competed in sports since the age of 6, and his brothers always have been there for support.
“(Zack) would just get a kick out of seeing his big brother blow away his age group and win his events,” said Vera, who is a 24-year-old firefighter from McAllen.
Zack could not join sports because of a heart transplant he received when he was born, as the left side of his heart was underdeveloped. Although no major side effects or sickness resulted from the procedure, Zack was forced to limit his physical activity.
“(Zack) did very good,” Silva said. “His body never rejected the heart. He would run around with Dustin and play basketball, but he knew his limits.”
It looked as if Zack would have a normal life until he complained of back pain in August 2003. After a trip to the doctor, he was diagnosed with lymphoma and later leukemia.
Silva said doctors were optimistic at first, but Zack’s health deteriorated.
“We spent a lot of time in hospitals and doctor’s offices.” Silva said. “The year Zack got sick, we did our trick-or-treating in the hospital.”
Alejo said Zack only saw him compete twice during his illness.
“I enjoyed him coming out to watch me,” Alejo said. “I just always wanted him there to see me compete.”
By the time of Zack’s death, he had lost much of his bodily functions. Realizing the end was near, Alejo spent the night in Zack’s room the night before his death. Both watched Miracle, a movie about the gold-medal winning 1980 United States Olympic hockey team.
“I knew he was going to die, but I didn’t expect he was going to die then that morning,” Alejo said. “He didn’t move or talk, and I knew then that he was gone.”
Silva said she did what she could to comfort him.
“Dustin used to feel so guilty,” Silva said. “He would say, ‘Mom, I feel bad because I was mean to Zack sometimes.’ I just told him that they were brothers and brothers fight. At the end they were very close, and that is what I told him mattered.”
Dark Days and Better Days
During and after Zack’s illness and death, Alejo’s social life was crashing.
He was, by all accounts, a very talented athlete in middle school. But his ability on the track and the football field was being overshadowed by his behavior — talking back to teachers, earning detentions, struggling with grades and not getting along with his peers.
“He was going through a lot at home and trying to deal with his brother’s death,” Silva said. “The teachers did not know that Dustin lost a brother. He did not know how to express his anger, so he would let it out by acting out at school.”
Vera described him as lost when he first entered high school.
“By the time he got to Raymondville he was branded a bad kid,” Vera said. “I think teachers just thought he was bad and thought he wouldn’t change.
Silva said Alejo could not turn to his father, Joey, because his dad has not always been a constant figure in his life since his parents divorced soon after the birth of his twin brothers.
“I was just mad at the world,” Alejo said. “I had a lot of anger, and I just didn’t want to talk to anyone.”
Then Alejo was pounded with a nice dose of reality. His grades kept him out for much of his freshman season during the Bearkats’ junior varsity football season. He realized it was time for change.
“He had a real bad attitude when he first came here,” close friend and Lady Bearkats track athlete Nicole Garcia said. “I used to tell him he needed to change because high school was not junior high. I told him the coaches at high school wouldn’t put up with him.”
With Vera near, he could keep tabs on Alejo. Vera checked in with Alejo’s teachers, and any bad report led to tougher practices for Alejo.
“Kevin played a big role in my life,” Alejo said. “He told me, ‘You need to do better.’ Kevin was there for me when I needed it the most. I see him as a big brother.”
Garcia said Alejo has matured immensely from his first day as a freshman.
“He has let go a lot,” Silva said. “Having Kevin there for him has helped him a lot to be able to find someone to talk to about it. It helped him let go of a lot of his anger.”
It has allowed Alejo to find success in athletics. He was named the District 31-3A newcomer of the year for the past football season. He owns the second-best Rio Grande Valley time this year in the 200-meter dash (21.75). Last weekend in Zapata, he won the district championship in the 100 and 200, and he is the first leg of the district-winning 400 and 800 relay teams.
He will be in action at the Region IV-3A meet next weekend in Kingsville.
“I don’t know much about his past,” Bearkats track coach Tony Niemeier said. “All I know is that when he got to me, he was a good kid. I have never had any trouble with him.”
When Alejo steps onto the track at the regional meet, it will be dedicated to his No. 1 fan — Zack.
“I always think about (Zack) at every track meet” Alejo said. “I always tell him, ‘I’ll meet you at the finish line.’”
http://www.themonitor.com/pictures/1177218160-trackweb.jpg
Raymondville track star Dustin Alejo, 16, lost his younger brother, Zack, to leukemia in 2004, nine months after he was diagnosed. Alejo acted out in a bad way after his brother’s death, but has turned his life around. Kirsten Luce/The Monitor