Teammates and fans show support
for PIHS softball player Kailey Shaw
By Jon Gulliver
Staff Writer
PRESQUE ISLE — A good softball game has quality defense, timely hitting and dominant pitching. A great softball game has teammates and community members coming together to show support for a player having to cut their season short to have surgery. Saturday at Presque Isle High school was a day for a great game.
TO FIRST — Presque Isle’s Kailey Shaw comes up throwing in a game against MDI on Saturday. The Wildcats split the doubleheader with the Trojans. 
PIHS junior Kailey Shaw this week underwent a reverse colostomy. Ulcerative colitis led to Shaw having an emergency colon removal earlier this year.
Shaw may have entered the operating room without her teammates; but she knows they were there in spirit. On Saturday the softball team and folks watching the game were decked out in ‘Got Colon?’ T-shirts. That spoof of the phrase ‘Got Milk?’ was on the front and on the back was (Kailey doesn’t). Her shirt said (I don’t). The gesture and humor was not lost on Shaw.
“They have been a real support,” said Shaw. “Really happy to know that I am not alone and my family is not alone.”
She also got a surprise phone call from U.S. Sen. Susan Collins, who let her know that she was thinking of her and wishing her well.
“She asked how I was doing,” she said. “It was really cool to know that someone so high up in our government called just to check in and see how I was doing.”
Troy Heald, a friend of Kailey’s family, was in the crowd wearing a ‘Got Colon?’ shirt.
“She is so positive about what she is going through that it is just an encouragement to everyone around her,” said Heald. “And to come out and show support for her is the least we can do.”
“Any time the community can come out and support someone — especially as good a kid as Kailey — it makes you feel good,” he added.
Photo coutesy Julie Goupille
GOT COLON? — Members of the Presque Isle High School softball team display their “Got Colon?” T-shirts. The shirts were a show of support for teammate Kailey Shaw, who earlier this week had surgery. 
From left, front row: Jordi Legassie, Courtney Colligan, Shaw, Shea Brown, Laurin Ackerson and Jess Dumais. Middle row: Kelsey Gilson, Megan Seward, Jess Theriault, Katie Patenaude, Carly Bell and Karlee Bernier. Back row: hidden — Dannika Ladd, mgr., coach Alan Curtis and asst. coach Bill Guerrette.
Ulcerative colitis is a chronic disease that affects the colon or large intestine and usually develops between the ages of 15 and 30 or between 50 and 70, according to a website dedicated to living with the disease. While the majority of ulcerative colitis symptoms occur in the intestine, the disease also can cause problems in other parts of the body. People who have ulcerative colitis for a long time are at an increased risk of developing colon cancer. Up to 3 percent of ulcerative colitis patients have symptoms of mild to severe liver disease.
Shaw was supposed to have the procedure earlier this month, but was postponed so she could get in a few more games.
The 17-year-old said she should recuperate fairly quickly and is already looking forward to getting back on the field. She is also a soccer and volleyball player.
