The Horne boys are legendary in the halls of Mt. Pisgah Christian School in Johns Creek, even though few teachers and few, if any, of the students ever met them.
But most folks in the area are familiar with the heartbreaking story of Jeffrey and Brian Horne, former football stars at the school, who were born 17 months apart — and died five months apart while attending Georgia Southern.
Senior Katie Strawinski, 18, never met them, but she’s determined to keep their spirits alive by staging a 5K fundraising race to fight leukemia, which killed Jeffrey at age 20. Brian died at age 19 of a “broken heart,” officially ruled sudden cardiac arrest, his mother Nancy says.
Nancy and Claude Horne set up a 501(c)3 charity, Jeffrey’s Voice (jeffreysvoice.org), which supports leukemia research at Emory University’s Winship Cancer Institute.
Katie organized a 5K fundraising race last year for the charity that brought in $8,000. This year she’s determined to double that, even though businesses have been reticent about making pledges. Her event, the FlapJack Dash and Kids Race (www.flapjackdash.com), is scheduled for 8 a.m. Nov. 17. It is supported by the school, and Dr. Amelia Langston, the Emory oncologist who treated Jeffrey, is talking it up, too.
Like others who know Katie, she’s hoping this year’s run will be a big success.
“Jeffrey was a very sweet young man,” she says. He had a “very aggressive” form of the disease, which in 55 percent of cases can be cured.
“They have a great young woman who is spearheading the race,” Langston says. When Katie is determined, she can’t be stopped, says her cross county coach, Susan Reilly and history teacher John Whitehurst.
“I first met Katie in 2008, shortly after the loss of Jeffrey and Brian,” Nancy says. “She was in middle school at the time.”
Katie immediately asked how she could help. Soon the Hornes set up Jeffrey’s Voice, which has received about $100,000 since then.
Mt. Pisgah was founded in 1986, and the Horne boys were among its first football players. Though few students today knew them, everybody knows about the Horne’s tragedy.
September is “orange” month, when people wear ribbons to raise awareness, just as folks wear pink in October for breast cancer awareness month. Mt. Pisgah has an “orange out” week during basketball season, when the student government buys orange shirts for students, with proceeds to Jeffrey’s Voice, Katie says.
“She does it all,” says Reilly, from finding donors and sponsors to recruiting volunteers, even buying bagels and bananas for runners.
Whitehurst says an adult came to him worried that Katie wouldn’t be able to pull it off, but doubters don’t know the young lady.
Nancy Horne says Katie “is a hero” and works tirelessly to fight cancer and keep her sons’ memory alive. The school does, too.
Jeffrey’s football jersey was retired. And a coaches’ award in Brian’s name is given annually to a team member showing perseverance and sportsmanship.
“They’ll never be forgotten,” Katie says.
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