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Community Corner

Reston Soccer Coach Fights On and Off the Field

Family and friends walk to support the Ty Lewis Cancer Foundation.

Ty Lewis, a 1984 graduate of ,  has Stage IV colon cancer.

 But more importantly, Lewis coaches the Reston Knights FC U-16 Boys Travel soccer team, so this weekend he traveled with his players to a Florida soccer tournament. 

Soccer always comes first, no matter what. His friends and family walked in his honor even without him.

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On Saturday, more than 40 Reston-area family, friends and pets walked to show their support of Lewis and his battle with the disease.

The local walk came about because Lewis' sister, Stacy, a 1987 South Lakes High School grad, organized the Ty Lewis Cancer Foundation walk in her new hometown of Orlando.

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 When , a South Lakes teacher and a close Lewis family friend, read about Stacy Lewis'  walk on Facebook, she organized a “sister” walk around Lake Anne. 

The Lewis family created the Ty Lewis Cancer Foundation to assist other families during a loved one’s cancer diagnosis and treatment.

When Kelly pointed out where they would be walking on this cold day, her 8-year-old niece put things in perspective.

 “She said 'We can walk and be cold for a little while –think of what he  [Ty] does being sick with cancer every day,' ” Kelly said. 

Lewis’ parents, Cindy and Larry Lewis, welcomed the crowd as they congregated at the Lake Anne Recreation Area. Many of the walkers were Ty and Stacy’s high school friends, who walked with their children.

Cindy Lewis, herself a cancer survivor, and her husband, Larry, lived in the Stratton Woods neighborhood in Reston for 30 years.  After she retired from the US Geological Survey, they relocated to Florida.  Stacy joined them a few years ago.  Cindy and Larry recently moved to Ashburn to help support Ty.

Ty Lewis was diagnosed in 2007.  Despite undergoing three operations, rounds of chemotherapy, and countless hours of pain, Lewis coached his U-16 Boys Reston Knights FC travel team to the 2010 Virginia State Cup champions.  Ty  Lewis has said soccer is keeping him alive.

“Ty is a fighter, " Kelly said. "His willpower is amazing.”

Ty Lewis, a former human resources administrator,  played soccer at South Lakes for four years and then played for Atlantic Christian College in Wilson, NC.  He started coaching Reston Youth Soccer in 1994. He and his wife, Shannon, live in Ashburn.

Ty Lewis coaches his son, Christopher, 16, on the Reston FC Knights.  His daughter, Samantha, 20, is a student at Old Dominion University.

“He never gives up, and he doesn’t want anyone else to give up either,” says Cindy Lewis. 

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