Indy Cop And Warsaw Grad Forges Relationship With Ailing Lincoln Student
Posted
David Slone-dslone@timesuniononline.com
INDIANAPOLIS – An Indianapolis policeman from?Warsaw is working to support a Lincoln Elementary School student who had a brain tumor removed. Marlin Sechrist, an officer with the Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department and a Warsaw Community High School graduate, said he heard about Drake Price, a kid from Warsaw who was admitted to Riley Hospital for Children for removal of a brain tumor. “I was really interested when I saw it was kid from my hometown,” Sechrist said. Sechrist went to his sergeant to see if anything could be done and eventually arranged for several Indy police officers to deliver a care package to Drake. Price, a fourth-grader at Lincoln Elementary School, wants to be a police officer when he grows up, Sechrist said. On Feb. 25, Price was diagnosed with a craniopharyngioma brain tumor, after several weeks of not feeling well. Three days later, he went to Riley to have brain surgery. Price’s aunt began a Facebook campaign to gather police patches to make a quilt for Price. They have received patches from police departments all over the world, including Warsaw Police Department and the Kosciusko County Sheriff’s Department. The Indy police department care package included model cars and stickers, along with a striped uniform provided by a local uniform company. “It’s about Drake, it’s not about us,” Sechrist said. Price was scheduled to be transfered to a children’s hospital in Chicago, but a minor setback will keep him at Riley a little longer, Sechrist said. Residents can go to the Facebook page “Drake Strong” to follow the story or send a gift to Price. Word of the distant-but- local connection comes at the same time as the annual fund raiser Riley gears up in Warsaw. Riley Radio Days is on WRSW 107.3 today and Friday from 6 a.m. to 7 p.m. All proceeds benefit the Riley Children’s Foundation and the Kosciusko County Riley Kids Fund at Kosciusko County Community Foundation.
