On May 17, roughly 500 attended Gordo’s Gala, a fund-raiser held at Lombardo’s function hall in Randolph. In a striking show of sportsmanship, players from rival schools such as St. Mary’s of Lynn, Austin Prep, St. John’s Prep, and Boston College High all contributed.
For Tim Jones, a former Harborman, the response spoke volumes about his friend. “That just shows the kind of person James is,’’ said Jones. “He’s very respectful, on and off the ice. It was just great to see all those kids come out and support him.’’
St. Mary’s assistant coach Chris Nagy, a friend of Hingham assistant John Mahoney, mentioned Gordon’s situation to his team’s captain, and both the boys and girls ran with it. They sold red T-shirts emblazoned with Gordon’s No. 17 in a white shamrock and Gordon’s rallying cry: “We got this.’’ At the Gordo’s Gala event, they presented the Gordons with a $2,260 check.
Encouraging news
On Monday, James Gordon began his latest circuit of chemotherapy, the final of his four-part regimen. This round, though, was tempered by encouraging news. Last week, the family was told that recent scans indicated the tumors in James’s abdomen and lungs appear to be shrinking.
“I haven’t heard a lot of good news lately, so I was pretty pumped about that,’’ he said.
Still, Gordon faces a long, unpredictable road. Following this current chemotherapy round, he’ll have four to five weeks to cleanse his system before surgery to remove the abdominal tumors. After a six-week recovery period, he must deal with treatment for the cancerous nodules in his lungs.
For now, Jim and Terry Gordon share James’s one-day-at-a-time approach to life and the disease, grateful for the support and hoping for the best. They want to see their son graduate with his classmates on Saturday. But Jim also knows that James, Hingham’s quiet captain, doesn’t want any special attention.
“I told him, ‘James, unfortunately, whether you like it or not, you are Hingham’s son now,’ ’’ said the elder Gordon. “ ‘And for better or worse, it’s an honor. You just have to embrace it.’ ’’
