Grant Channell, a fair-skinned young man who was known for his sense of humor and sincere nature, grew up in the small town of Amanda, Ohio, with his parents and brother. He enjoyed playing sports with friends and lifeguarding in the summers. Grant moved to the Pittsburgh area after high school to study at Robert Morris College, where he double-majored in Finance and Accounting. It was also there that Grant met his future wife Lisa. In 1989, the year of his graduation, his aunt noticed that the 22 year-old had a peeling and flaking mole on his shoulder, and she urged him to have it evaluated by a physician. After a doctor’s examination and tests, Grant was diagnosed with melanoma, the most serious type of skin cancer.
After that startling diagnosis, Grant underwent surgery and began a chemotherapy regimen of self-administered interferon, injecting the interferon into his leg each day. Initially, the chemotherapy made him extremely sick, but his condition eventually improved. He returned to work, and after one year, his prognosis was good. All the while, Grant remained positive and committed to beating the cancer. Grant’s condition was monitored through regular checkups.
Grant and Lisa were married in 1992, and a career opportunity for Grant took the newlyweds away from Pittsburgh to Charleston, WV. Grant became the Director of Environmental Services for the Marriott Corporation at St. Francis Hospital.
At a checkup in late 1993, a doctor found a swollen lymph node in Grant’s neck, but told him not to worry. Like most people hoping for good news, Grant and Lisa were more than relieved. Their many fears about his health taking a turn-for-the-worse had caused them to be very attentive to changes in his condition, and they wanted so much for all to be well. The doctor instructed Grant to come back in one year, but due to the aggressive nature of Grant’s case, he didn’t survive until the next year’s checkup.
In the early summer of 1994, Grant experienced a severe pain in his hip that he thought was a pulled muscle. The pain made it very agonizing for him walk and maintain his active lifestyle. While competing in a golf tournament, an activity he loved, Grant casually mentioned his hip pain and some of his medical history to a doctor who was golfing with him. This doctor was immediately very concerned about Grant and advised him to report to his doctor very soon, and Grant promised to do so. After the tournament, Grant and his team were presented with the first place trophy for their excellent play, but behind his grin of victory, Grant was in tremendous pain.
The severe pain soon took Grant to the emergency room. The melanoma had metastasized, spreading cancer to his bones and lymph nodes. The cancer had progressed beyond what Grant’s doctor could treat. Grant and Lisa were given a list of places they could go for more advanced treatment, and they chose to go home to Pittsburgh for the expertise of world-renowned melanoma specialist John M. Kirkwood, M.D., at the University of Pittsburgh Cancer Institute (UPCI). They found Dr. Kirkwood’s care very reassuring, and Lisa recalled that it was “the only time that Grant felt comfortable with the care he received.” Grant fought very hard and remained hopeful throughout the tests, treatments, sleepless nights, and horrible pain. Despite Dr. Kirkwood’s communications with other researchers worldwide about Grant’s unusually virulent disease and Grant’s tremendous fortitude, Grant died two months later at the young age of 27.
On the day of Grant’s passing, Lisa walked out of the UPCI clinic and temporarily swore she would never return. After taking some time to grieve about her husband and to recover from the shock of losing this man, so young, sturdy, and strong-spirited, stolen by cancer, she resolved to continue Grant’s fight. The intensity of the suffering, pain, and helplessness that Lisa had witnessed closely was more than she could comprehend. She started planning and moved into action.
Around the one-year anniversary of Grant’s death, Lisa led and organized a golf outing fundraiser with the proceeds earmarked for Dr. Kirkwood’s melanoma research at UPCI. The event served as a way to make a difference and to memorialize Grant and his love of golf.
This year marks the ninth year of the Grant Channell Memorial Golf Outing, and the monies raised for the UPCI Melanoma and Skin Cancer Program over the past eight years total more than $80,000. Dr. Kirkwood uses the funds to expand and strengthen his program by recruiting talented new investigators, seeding new ideas, and supporting current projects. The proceeds also permit the acquisition of new, state-of-the-art laboratory equipment that is needed for ongoing or developmental projects, neither available from the institution, nor from federal granting agencies.
For Lisa Channell Huntley, giving to UPCI has been personally therapeutic and a way to get closer to a cure for melanoma. Together with family and friends, Lisa has built a legacy around her late husband, moved beyond her grief, and worked to save others from experiencing the horrors of cancer. “The more money that goes into cancer research, the more we can understand cancer and prevent it from attacking our loved ones,” Lisa said.
Founding the Grant Channell Memorial Golf Outing is not all that Lisa has done to fight back against cancer. In 1996, she and a friend began volunteering at UPCI, providing cookies, drinks, and comfort to hospitalized cancer patients and their visiting families. A year later, Lisa was hired for full-time work in the Volunteer and Community Services Program and since 1999, she has directed this program for UPCI and UPMC Cancer Centers. Still active in this role (and busier than ever), Lisa recruits and places volunteers in the thriving laboratories and clinics of the Hillman Cancer Center, bringing more hands, hearts, and minds to the fight against cancer.
“Working at UPCI and organizing the golf outing have helped me move on and stay positive over the last nine years,” Lisa said. “Through the golf outing, I have the privilege of helping raise money for the important research that Dr. Kirkwood does and at the same time, pay tribute to a remarkable young man who was loved by many people.”
For more information on the event or to donate to the Grant Channell Memorial Fund, please call (412) 623-4636 or visit http://www.geocities.com/channellmgo/.
To learn about Melanoma and its risk factors, visit http://www.upmccancercenters.com/pdq_xml/cancer.cfm?id=120
