WESTBOROUGH – Joshua Callinan and Pauline Sciarappa work as paraprofessionals at Westborough High School.
They will also be taking part in the Jimmy Fund Walk on Sunday, Oct. 1. Callinan will be walking the full Boston Marathon route from Hopkinton to Fenway Park.
Both have had their lives impacted by cancer. For Sciarappa, it was the loss of her 18-year-old daughter, Corinne, to alveolar rhabdomyosarcoma. For Callinan, it was the loss of his grandmother to lung cancer in February.
“I saw her suffer, and no matter the distance of the walk I know the memory in my head seeing her in pain will motivate me to finish,” said Callinan. “Defying cancer to me means never giving up hope. My father fortunately recovered from cancer when I was young and Corinne didn’t, and in her memory, we need to keep fighting. Cancer did not define her story and what I have learned about her hope did.”
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Callinan was hired at Westborough High School in 2021 after he graduated from St. Anselm College in New Hampshire. Sciarappa welcomed him immediately and made him feel like a part of the community, sharing pieces of Corinne’s life and her passions.
“An early observation was her openness and willingness to tell Corinne’s story and talk about her everyday struggles dealing with the loss of her child,” he said. “During her good and bad days, her kindness never waivers.”
Both are members of the team Sciarappa Strong, which hopes to raise $42,000 this year. To visit their page, go to tinyurl.com/2wxvbup7.
About the walk
The 2023 Jimmy Fund Walk raises funds to support all forms of adult and pediatric patient care and cancer research at the nation’s premier cancer center, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute.
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Participants have the flexibility to choose from four distance options: 5K walk (from Dana-Farber Cancer Institute’s Longwood Medical campus), 10K walk (from Newton), half-marathon walk (from Wellesley) or Marathon walk (from Hopkinton). Walkers can also participate virtually by “walking their way” from wherever they are most comfortable — whether that be in their neighborhood, on a favorite hiking trail, or on a treadmill at home.
The Jimmy Fund Walk has raised more than $167 million for Dana-Farber Cancer Institute in its 34-year history. The 2023 walk will be held during the Jimmy Fund’s 75th anniversary year and will aim to raise $9 million.
To register for the walk or to support a walker, visit www.JimmyFundWalk.org or call 866-531-9255.
