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This past Saturday, Boston police officers and firefighters faced off at Catholic Memorial High School in West Roxbury for the second annual A Shot For Life: Battle of the Badges to raise funds and awareness for Dr. William Curry Jr.’s brain cancer research lab at the Stephen E. and Catherine Pappas Center for Neuro-Oncology at the Massachusetts General Hospital Cancer Center. Four-year-old Declan Higgins, an avid Boston Police Department (BPD) fan who is currently being treated for a stage III brain tumor, served as the BPD team’s honorary captain.
Dressed in a personalized jersey, Declan was picked up at his Medfield home by Boston police officers and escorted by BPD cruisers, motorcycles, the Bomb Squad, K-9 unit, and Boston Fire Department trucks. In support of the event, the Leonard P. Zakim Bunker Hill Bridge, TD Garden, and Prudential Tower were lit in red and blue.
Following his mother’s brain cancer diagnosis in 2010 and throughout her treatment under the care of Dr. William Curry Jr. at the Mass General Cancer Center, then-17-year-old Mike Slonina of Watertown launched A Shot For Life, Inc. to honor his mom and help in the fight against brain cancer. A Shot For Life is a nonprofit organization dedicated to raising funds for cancer research through high level basketball. To date, A Shot For Life has generated over $100,000 for programs at the Mass General Cancer Center and Boston Children’s Hospital.
