Surviving Sarcoma is a 38-minute documentary detailing the story of bone cancer survivor Mario Spencer as he embarks on a major surgical journey. The musician and former football player opened up about his health history and how he endured and triumphed over bone cancer at the age of 16. Shot by Dane Nelson, Roje Sales and Lanze White the film features some close friends of Mario as they too share stories of him and well wishes for his upcoming surgery and fundraising initiative.
Initially, Survivor Cup 2019 was to raise funds for the establishment of a special cancer fund for Sarcoma which is a rare form of bone cancer. The first Survivor Cup was held on July 2017 at Emmett Park, St. George’s College. The funds raised was donated to a young Osteosarcoma patient Tajay Jones, who, unfortunately, has since passed away. This idea was the brainchild of cancer survivor Mario Spencer. This year’s purpose has shifted to aid in the funding of an emergency knee revision for Mario. Mario Spencer is a past student of the St. George’s College and a former striker for the Harbour View and Santos Football Clubs. After being diagnosed in 2010 with primary stage Osteosarcoma, he went through 9 rounds of chemotherapy and in 2011, specialist physician Dr Kenneth Vaughan performed an 11-hour operation to replace the affected bone with the bone of a deceased donor. After 8 years
Mario remains cancer-free, however, the knee joint has now eroded and needs to be replaced with titanium components valued at an estimated $1.5 million JMD. In 2015 an attempt was made to raise this amount, reaching only $2000 USD. At the time the matter was not as severe and on a quest to better enable himself to start earning on his own, the funds were used to clear up outstanding medical bills and aid in preparation for Mario to start attending the University of the West Indies, majoring in Entertainment Management.
Throughout his tenure at the university, he performed as a vocalist for the school’s Pop Society and was a recipient of the Monty Alexander Scholarship and the CHASE Fund Cultural Scholarship. Mario went on to become a brand ambassador for the entertainment TV show The Release. He was then selected to be president of the Entertainment and Cultural Enterprise Management (ECEM) Society, where he along with the team arranged entertainment seminars featuring different entertainment professionals. Currently, Mario is the Content Operations Manager of Carib Voxx.
Survivor Cup 1.5 is a 6 a -side football tournament featuring video games, virtual reality experience provided by In Control Gaming and will be closing with live performances from Royal Blu, Chevaughn, Sanity DSane, Phoenixx, Kxng Izem and more. Admission is $1500 pre-sold, $2000 at the gate and entry fee for FIFA and 6-a-side tournaments are $1000 per player.
