There was no reason to think the eye infection plaguing Mary Ellen Warta's 3-year-old son Jonas was anything more than pink eye, but it just wouldn't heal.
Both she and her husband, Geoff, had been diligent in following doctor’s orders, administering drops to Jonas’ right eye on time and as scheduled. For weeks. For nothing.
Then one spring morning in 2012 while at St. Brendan the Navigator Catholic Church, Jonas’ teacher, a former nurse, noticed an opaque spot on the boy’s eye and alerted his dad.
“Something’s not right,” she told Geoff.
That night Geoff called Mary Ellen who was away on a business trip to Nashville.
“I see it too,” he told her.
With that Mary Ellen Warta of Cumming was about to take the longest lap of her life. But unlike all the others, it wouldn’t be in a swimming pool.
As a championship swimmer in the last ’80s, she’d broken records in both the 100- and 200-yard breaststroke.
No one had set an American record at the short course nationals since 1985. Nor had anyone set an American short course mark in a preliminary race of 200 yards or longer since 1978.
But at just 15, Mary Ellen Blanchard, as she was known back then, had done both.
Besides having good genes — she was the granddaughter of 1945 Heisman Trophy-winner Doc Blanchard — she had exceptional technique that allowed her to swim high out of the water.
Now at 39, Warta found herself in unfamiliar terrain.
Eye specialist Dr. G. Baker Hubbard took one look, and he knew.
Jonas had retinoblastoma, a rare cancer of the retina, the thin membrane on the back of the eye.
Hubbard scheduled surgery the next day to remove the tumor. He told the Wartas to consider what they might do if Jonas’ eye had to be removed.
Each year in the United States, some 13,000 children are diagnosed with cancer. Of those, about 250-350 have retinoblastoma like Jonas, said Dr. Thomas A. Olson, pediatric oncologist and head of solid tumor program at the Aflac Cancer & Blood Disorders Center of Children's Healthcare of Atlanta.
If there is a worst time to hear the “C” word, it is when it is uttered in reference to your child. The Wartas were stunned. They had no idea whether the cancer had worked its way through Jonas’ optic nerve, the gateway to the brain, or not.
As they left his office that morning, Dr. Hubbard invited Mary Ellen to a picnic scheduled the next day for children with cancer and their families.
Early the next morning, they headed to St. Brendan where a priest could perform the sacrament of anointing of the sick on Jonas.
“It literally felt like God put a blanket around us, especially around Jonas,” Mary Ellen said.
They left St. Brendan and headed to the picnic. There they found plenty of folk who knew what the Wartas were going through. They were either entering the same storm or had arrived on the other side.
While undergoing surgery at Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta at Egleston the following Monday, Mary Ellen learned that Jonas’ left eye was clear but his right eye was full of tumors. There was no way to salvage it.
When the operation was over, the Wartas’ boy looked like he’d been in a fight. His eye was bruised and swollen shut underneath white bandages.
They wondered how they could’ve missed the fact that Jonas had no vision in that eye. They were grateful he’d made it through the surgery. Dr. Hubbard sent them home the same day. He wanted to see Jonas again in two weeks.
Mary Ellen was sure they were done with cancer, but Dr. Hubbard had more bad news. It was in the lining of Jonas’ eye. He’d have to undergo at minimum six months of chemotherapy.
“I felt shock again,” Mary Ellen said.
But she, Geoff and Jonas’ two older siblings rallied.
Three months in, all the swelling had gone down and Jonas was fitted with a prosthetic eye. When he saw himself in the mirror, he was over the moon.
“I look normal again,” he told his mom.
Word had spread pretty quickly about the Wartas’ struggle. In fall 2012, Janel Jorgensen McArdale, then president of Swim Across America (SAA) and a former teammate of Mary Ellen’s from her days at Stanford University, called.
The non-profit was dedicated to raising money and awareness for cancer research, prevention and treatment by hosting open water and pool swim events across the U.S. The organization was starting an Atlanta Swim. Would Mary Ellen come and talk about her experience with Jonas?
“It was hard, but God gave me the strength to talk about what we were going through,” she said.
Nearly a dozen people turned out at Egleston that day to hear what the Hall of Famer had to say. Fellow swimmers. Cancer survivors. SAA sponsors. When Mary Ellen was done, they were ready to get started.
Warta was, too. Days later she formed Team Jonas and every day since, Swim Across America has been Mary Ellen Warta’s single race. Her finish line? A cure for childhood cancer.
Two swimmers signed up that first summer. Team Jonas raised nearly $2,500. Today, the team numbers 15 and has raised $12,000 toward eliminating pediatric cancers. In all, SAA has raised more than $65 million for cancer research.
Five years ago when Atlanta Swim partnered with Aflac, the goal was to raise $300,000 in the first three years. Four years later, the Atlanta Swim serves as a fund-raising model to other cities. The Swim has surpassed $1.25 million and aims to raise $500,000 in 2017 by adding summer pool swims and clinics to its list of fundraisers.
“Christ teaches us to be merciful,” Mary Ellen said. “This is a wonderful way to show mercy and help those in need, especially children and families fighting pediatric cancer. Being able to use my swimming experience to bring the swimming community together to fight pediatric cancer is something only God could have brought together.”
For a listing of local Swim Across America Pool Swim, Clinic, or Open Water Swim, log onto www.swimacrossamerica.org/atlanta.
