Future Looking Bright for Westside Graduate

OCEANA: Marcus Gunter learned early on the measure of a man doesn't come in feet and inches, but rather in strength of character, determination, and hard work.

The Westside High School senior was among the June 3 graduates and turned down a golf scholarship to Bluefield State to pursue his dream of completing pharmacy school. He will attend University of Charleston, enrolled in the pre-pharmacy honors program.

As the result of a growth hormone deficiency, sports was not supposed to be part of Gunter's future. However, he's performed "remarkably well" in golf, basketball, and baseball, his dad, Mark, said.

"He turned out to be a wonderful athlete," Mark noted.

Problems surfaced when Marcus was about 2 years old, Mark recalled.

"Out of the blue, he would start throwing up, he would become dehydrated, and we would have to take him to the hospital," Mark said.

Once the toddler was re-hydrated, he seemed as good as new.

However, the events occurred time after time, month after month, Mark said.

At the onset of these episodes, Marcus also seemed to be constantly fatigued.

Additionally, he didn't seem to be growing, but rather could wear the same clothes summer to summer, his dad remembered.

It took 7 doctors before the Gunters finally had the correct diagnosis, Marcus' mother, Cathy, explained.

An all-night blood test — during which blood is drawn every 2 hours throughout the night — at Wake Forest University's Bowman Gray School of Medicine confirmed the parents' suspicions.

Once the diagnosis was confirmed, Marcus endured daily growth hormone injections until he was a freshman.

His parents were also discouraged from allowing Marcus to participate in sports, Cathy said.

Rather they were encouraged to steer him toward choir, chess club, and other less physical activities, she said.

"And we actually considered that for awhile," she remembered.

In the end, Mark and Cathy decided to allow Marcus to set his own limits and didn't tell him medical personnel had discouraged his participation in sports. They watched over their son closely, however, while he did participate in basketball, baseball, and golf. Even his coaches weren't told of his medical problems.

"We discussed it with a few people," Cathy said, " but we only told the necessary people."

Marcus worked hard, often times harder than his team mates, trying to make up for his lack of height and to overcome the debilitating fatigue and dehydration that still plagued him.

"I knew I was smaller than everybody else, so I knew I had to play harder," Marcus said.

"I'm 5' 8" on a good day," he joked.

His height, however, made no difference on the baseball field or the golf course. It did cause him some problems on the basketball court, but he just played harder and became more determined.

"It seemed like his best games were then ones that really took it out of him," Cathy noted.

"It's a different kind of fatigue," she said, adding that Marcus wouldn't just sit in a chair after a game, but rather seemed to "melt into it."

A school assignment given to Marcus tipped the Gunters as to how little he knew of what he'd overcome. Students were assigned to write about the most difficult thing they'd had to overcome. Marcus wrote about the death of a friend.

"Cathy and I just sort of looked at each other," Mark said. "We knew he had no idea what he'd overcome himself; he knew nothing of any of this. All he knew was he took shots every day to help him grow."

"We never wanted Marcus to feel like he was handicapped," she said.

Earlier this year, Cathy finally told Marcus after he became upset when he didn't qualify for a state golf competition. He feared he had let down his school and his teammates.

"I decided it was time to tell him that he wasn't even supposed to be there," she said. "He wasn't supposed to play sports."