{"id":9376,"date":"2017-07-07T09:02:26","date_gmt":"2017-07-07T13:02:26","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/figureskatersonline.com\/news\/?p=9376"},"modified":"2017-09-18T08:43:04","modified_gmt":"2017-09-18T12:43:04","slug":"july-11-benefit-show-to-support-jeremy-and-lucy-barrett-in-her-cancer-battle","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/figureskatersonline.com\/news\/2017\/07\/07\/july-11-benefit-show-to-support-jeremy-and-lucy-barrett-in-her-cancer-battle\/","title":{"rendered":"July 11 benefit show to support Jeremy and Lucy Barrett in her cancer battle"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Maura Sullivan Hill, staff writer
\nPhotos courtesy of Audrey Weisiger and videos by Darin Hoser<\/span><\/p>\n

Last spring, Jeremy and Lucy Barrett were at the start of a new chapter. Newly married and expecting their first child, they were moving to a new house and a new figure skating training center in Wesley Chapel, Florida, near Tampa.<\/span><\/p>\n

Both are coaches and former pairs skaters. Jeremy, a 2010 Olympian and 2010 U.S. Champion with former partner, Caydee Denney, has coached national and international competitors as part of a coaching team with John Zimmerman, Silvia Fontana, and John Kerr. The couple\u2019s future seemed certain, and bright.<\/span><\/p>\n

But in April, Lucy was diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukemia.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"\u201cIn the blink of an eye, the world can change, and we felt very helpless,\u201d says Audrey Weisiger, a friend of the Barretts, Olympic coach and founder of Grassroots to Champions.<\/span><\/p>\n

Jeremy and Lucy\u2019s son, Watson Harold Barrett, was born in May, premature, but healthy. Lucy is receiving treatment for the disease at Moffitt Cancer Center in Tampa, and the skating community has rallied around her in this fight.<\/span><\/p>\n

Weisiger joined forces with Ryan Bradley, 2011 U.S. Champion and a close friend of the Barretts, to organize a benefit show. The \u201cHelp Lucy Fight Leukemia!\u201d Benefit Show will take place on July 11 at 4:30 p.m. at the EPIC Rink in Fort Collins, Colorado.\u00a0<\/span>The show will feature Bradley and other stars from Team USA: 2013 U.S. Champion Max Aaron, 2015 U.S. Champion and 2014 Olympic bronze medalist (team event) Jason Brown, four-time U.S. bronze medalists Madison Hubbell and Zachary Donohue, six-time U.S. medalist and 2010 Olympian Mirai Nagasu and 2017 Bavarian Open gold medalist\u00a0Angela Wang, along with 2016 World Junior Champion Daniel Samohin of Israel, and 2017 European pairs bronze medalists Vanessa James and Morgan Cipres of France, whom Barrett coaches.<\/span><\/p>\n

There is no cost for admission to the show, but they will be taking donations at the door, as well as selling t-shirts and hosting a silent auction to raise money for the Barretts.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cIt speaks to how Jeremy and Lucy are regarded by the skating community that people have jumped to help them,\u201d Weisiger said. <\/span><\/p>\n

Weisiger also stressed how much the support means to the Barretts, both financially and emotionally.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cAs skating coaches, we teach a lesson and that\u2019s how we get paid. Jeremy has been at Lucy\u2019s bedside and unable to work, so we need to support him financially. But he\u2019s said it and Lucy\u2019s said it, that knowing so many people are praying for them is the most powerful thing.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"The show coincides with Weisiger\u2019s annual Grassroots to Champions Super Camp, which is being held in Colorado for the first time. She said that they probably wouldn\u2019t have been able to pull the show off, if not for being in Colorado this year.\u00a0<\/span>Many of the skaters performing in the show train nearby, so they don\u2019t need to pay for travel to the show.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cAs far as the elite competitors that are skating in the show, they are in the middle of their preparations to attempt to make the Olympics next year,\u201d Weisiger said. \u201cThey\u2019re busy, but they are all saying, \u2018What do we need to do? How can we be there for you?\u2019\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

It\u2019s this team mentality that is making the show happen. U.S. Figure Skating immediately sanctioned the event, which enabled the elite athletes to participate. And the Fort Collins FSC, particularly Paul and Heidi Thibert, took charge of the silent auction and production of the show, from the spotlights to sound.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cLucy\u2019s home club is the Denver FSC, and a lot of her club members are driving down to the show and supporting us,\u201d Weisiger said.<\/span><\/p>\n

The skaters participating in Super Camp have also gotten involved, donating money to reserve seats at the show and for the opportunity to perform in a group number. The campers contributed more than $6,000 through their own fundraising efforts, in addition to the $37,000 and counting that has been donated through a GoFundMe<\/span><\/a> campaign for the Barretts.<\/span><\/p>\n

Weisiger is proud of her campers for supporting the Barretts, and also thinks there is a lesson for them in this experience.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cSometimes we as athletes get so caught up in, \u2018Oh, I can\u2019t land my double axel,\u2019 or, \u2018I had a bad competition.\u2019 That is disappointing, but we are talking about life and death here,\u201d she said. \u201cFor the kids to see that there is a bigger picture, and to see what skating can do, maybe there is a lesson in this. And I think there is some pride for the kids that have contributed \u2014 no matter how big or small \u2014 they can say that when somebody needed help, they were able to help, and I think that\u2019s empowering.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n