Parker Nork, Who Died Suddenly Of Leukemia At 9, Has Not Been Forgotten

The time you won your town the race
We chaired you through the market-place;
Man and boy stood cheering by,
And home we brought you shoulder-high.

Today, the road all runners come,
Shoulder-high we bring you home,
And set you at your threshold down,
Townsman of a stiller town. - To An Athlete Dying Young, by A.E. Housman

One minute he was here. The next minute he was gone.

But Parker Nork has not been forgotten.

The young sports fanatic who died suddenly earlier this month of leukemia just three weeks after he was diagnosed has been lauded on Facebook pages. The McKinley Avenue Elementary School he attended in Stafford Township flew the flag at half mast in his memory. Members of the Stafford Township Board of Education sported orange ribbons with a #1 - his number as a goalie for the Toms River Blackhawks - at a recent meeting.

And donations to the gofundme.com page established in his name have exploded since the campaign started with a goal of $100. As of Wednesday morning, friends, organizations and others - many identified only as "anonymous"moved by the young boy's death had raised $$45,043.

Parker also played for both Southern Youth Football and Stafford Lacrosse teams, depending upon the season.

"He spent the rest of his free time outside playing every kind of sport, from slapping the hockey puck around, shooting baskets, kicked the soccer ball and just being a kid," his aunt wrote on a gofundme page.

But things changed. The Nork family learned just three weeks ago that Parker had B-Cell leukemia. The disease has a high success rate of cure and the family was hopeful and positive.

But on March 10, Parker was rushed to the pediatric intensive care unit at Children's Hospital of Philadelphia. He died the next day.

"Doctors tried everything to save him, but unfortunately Park's body couldn't endure it," according to the post."

Friends and family established a Gofundme page for Parker and his family, with a goal of $100. In just one day, they raised $30,948.

The Nork family has been a big part of Southern Ocean County sports.

"We would like to support and give back to this wonderful, giving selfless family," the post states. "All donations will go directly to the Nork family."

Image: gofundme.com