Communities join in support after Southside coach Aaron Kareus diagnosed with brain tumor
Since being diagnosed with a brain tumor, Aaron Kareus hasn’t missed a Southside cross country practice as of Friday. At that night's Coach Kareus Prayer 5K/Walk at the school's track, hundreds from Southside and beyond ran alongside the Mavericks coach, propelled in a wheelchair by participants in the event.
“Obviously, the reason why we are doing it is not anything that anybody wanted, for sure,” said Fort Smith Public Schools athletic director Michael Beaumont. “But I think that you can quickly see the impact that Coach Kareus has on our kids, on our community and our school.
“And ... it’s not just this side of town. It’s all over Fort Smith and beyond just because he is that kind of guy. I think he is one of those people for sure that when you say the word “coach” it means so much more than just running around the track and going as fast as you can. He embodies what we all should strive to be.”
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Since becoming the school’s cross country and track coach about five years ago, the 41-year-old Southside graduate has been known to bring together athletes in sports that tend to be viewed more as individual than a team efforts. As a coach, he has combined discipline and detail with support and encouragement. A former runner at Chaffin Junior High and at Southside, he views his role as “giving back.”
Southside junior runners Cadence and Caelynne Hodge described Kareus as a man of strong Christian faith who invites students to church groups and makes being on the team about academics, moral virtues, sportsmanship and pushing them to be the best people that they can be. For Cadence Hodge, the 5K event’s participation reflects the way he has brought people closer to Jesus Christ.
“I think he invites us into who he is, not just as a coach but as a person,” Hodge said. “And he is able to show that he cares for us and how we are mentally and everything else, not just how we are doing physically in the sport.”
One of the participants in the 5K/Walk was Noah Embry, a runner at Greenwood. The reigning All-River Valley Cross Country Runner of the Year and long-distance track 5A West champion got to know Kareus from competing against him. Embry called him “one of the strongest men that I know.”
“I’d say it’s a testimony of God working through some of the people in Fort Smith and Greenwood, Alma, Van Buren,” Embry said. “This local area is just so faith-driven, and it’s awesome to be a part of it.”
According to Kareus' wife, Mindy, symptoms of his condition arose about a month ago. Symptoms included a more difficult time getting words out, more clumsiness and a weakening right arm.
On July 28, Kareus was taken to Mercy Hospital’s emergency room, where a computed tomography scan revealed a mass on his brain. The next morning, an MRI showed the tumor, with a biopsy finding that it was more specifically a low-grade glioma tumor, which is cancerous.
Despite his condition, Coach K’s dedication hasn’t wavered. He wants to coach and continue as a science teacher at Star Academy as much as he can. Mindy Kareus said that chemo and radiation treatments could create time away this year.
On Friday, his first day in a wheelchair, Kareus rolled to starting line as an expanded team followed closely behind at the fundraiser.
“It means the world to me,” Kareus said. “The support and love has been overwhelming.”
You can follow Bryant Roche on Twitter @BRocheSports and you can email him at BRoche@gannett.com
This article originally appeared on Fort Smith Times Record: Southside coach Aaron Kareus receives support amidst brain tumor
