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Marvin Sean Marsee age 18, his
Senior year 
Marvin Sean Marsee, 2 weeks
before his death.
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Talihina, Oklahoma
Golden Tigers. School and track team Sean Marsee attended.
The Sean Marsee Story
Marvin Sean Marsee was
born
in January in 1965. Sean
Marsee was from Ada, Oklahoma,
and went to Talihina, Oklahoma schools. He was a very well liked
person and a very outstanding track athlete. Sean did long jump and sprint.
In track Sean had won 28 medals and before he died, he had gotten a plaque
that read “Most Valuable Athlete,” with a track show at the bottom. At the
age of 12, Sean got free samples of Copenhagen
and Skoal snuff/chewing tobacco. Eventually he found out, that he loved this
snuff, and couldn’t live without it. After his mother, Betty Marsee, a
registered nurse at the Ada
Hospital, she hit the
roof trying to explain how dangerous snuff/ chewing tobacco were. However,
Sean refused to listen. Sean was the hero of the family and his younger
siblings looked up to him a great amount. By the age of 17 Sean’s father, Condly
Marsee, died, which left Sean to be the man of the house. When Sean was a
senior in high school, he had come home to his mom and said, “Mom, Mom, my
tongue hurts. It hurts to swallow and touch!” He then opened his mouth to
show an ugly inflamed red and white patch, the size of a half dollar, on the
right side of his tongue. His mom then took him to the doctor where they took
a biopsy, and the results came back as cancerous. Dr. Carl Hook, a head and
neck surgeon then recommended cutting out Sean’s tongue. Sean agreed. But,
then the cancer spread! Sean then went through a 2nd operation.
Finally the cancer spread again under the base of his brain and down his
back. Sean Marsee had to get his bottom right jaw cut out. In this picture
you can see, he has a breathing tube in a hole in his throat and a feeding
tube up his nose. Sean was asked to take this picture and if he had anything
to say to other young athletes. He wrote, “Don’t Dip Snuff,” because he could
not talk. Then at age 19, Sean smiled a tired smile at his sister, pointed an
index finger skyward, and at an hour later, Sean Marsee was dead on February
25th, 1984. Before Sean died, Sean got to achieve a 400 meter
relay as anchor leg. Rest In Peace Marvin Sean Marsee, 1965-1984.
My name is Kayleigh
Andrews and I’m the designer of this oral cancer page. Starting in 7th
grade, I had health my last quarter in my last semester. My teacher, Mrs.
Lammers, happened to have Sean’s poster hanging on her wall. I remember when
I first walked into her class, I seen Sean and went, “Whoa, that kid looks
really messed up!” Well, I decided that I wanted to learn more about this
kid. So that’s what I did and now to this day, I’m still learning new stuff
about Sean Marsee. Also, to this day Sean Marsee happens to be one of my
heroes and I look up to him with major respect because he was such a strong
and brave guy. I’m doing what Sean wanted, his story to be spread, so other
kids would know, snuff is dangerous. I would like to thank Mrs. Lammers for
introducing me to this once very handsome young man!
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