Walkathon to Help Youth With Cancer

Participants in a 5K walkathon Sunday afternoon will help raise money for a recent graduate of St. Michael’s Day School facing surgery for a rare form of bone cancer.

Michael Jung, a junior at Loyola High School in South Los Angeles, visited the doctor in January complaining of knee pain, St. Michael’s development director Maggi Wright Falkenstein said. Doctors told the youth he has osteosarcoma, a cancer that has required chemotherapy. He is scheduled to undergo surgery at UCLA that will replace his tibia and knee.

“It came out of nowhere,” Falkenstein said. “The worst thing was going to be minor knee surgery. He had been training for the tennis team.”

Sunday’s walkathon will be held on the track at Harvard-Westlake School, 3700 Coldwater Canyon Ave., next-door to St. Michael’s. Registration, which will be accepted at the door, is set for 2 p.m. and the walkathon will begin at 2:30. The suggested minimum donation is $10.

Falkenstein said the illness has hit the small school community hard, especially because Michael’s mother worked there for more than two years. She said the family expects Michael’s medical costs to climb into hundreds of thousands of dollars.

“Whatever we get will be a drop in the bucket,” Falkenstein said. “It’s more of a show of support.”

Those unable to participate in Sunday’s event may send donations to the Michael Jung Medical Fund, care of St. Michael’s School, 3646 Coldwater Canyon Ave., Studio City 91604.