CENTERVILLE, Mass. — Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC) Commissioner Rudy Keeling announced today the five recipients of the ECAC Award of Valor. This year’s winners are Francesca Testa (Western Connecticut State University), Meghan Bain (James Madison University), Brendan Finneran (Siena College), Dan Rhault (University of Rhode Island) and Kindra Lewis (Alvernia University). They will receive their awards at the Honors Luncheon on Tuesday, October 6 presented by Jostens.

The luncheon will be held at The Resort and Conference Center in Hyannis, Massachusetts during the 2009 ECAC Fall Convention and Trade Show.

Established in 1985, the ECAC Award of Valor honors ECAC athletes whose courage, motivation, and relentless determination serves as an inspiration to all. The recipients exemplify strength of character and perseverance deserving recognition as being truly triumphant.

Francesca Testa (Western Connecticut State University)

After a stellar freshman year, earning team MVP, breaking multiple school records, and earning All-Little East Conference and All-New England honors, Testa was starting her swimming career at Western Connecticut State University with a bang. With those honors, no one would have guessed she has daily complications from a life threatening disease. In April of 2006, Testa contracted bacterial meningitis from a source the health department is still unsure of. After suffering from severe headaches and extremely high fevers for over two weeks, doctors told Testa she had the flu and sent her home. It was then one morning when Testa’s mother found her unconscious in her bedroom with purple spots all over her body, which are caused by bleeding under the skin and tissue death, that they knew this was not the flu. After several spinal taps, it was determined that Testa had bacterial meningitis, and it had turned septic from lack of treatment, giving her only a 20 percent chance of living. Because of her illness, doctors used an experimental drug treatment on her. After being in a coma and on a respirator for a week, the drug finally started to work and Testa was out of the coma. After leaving the hospital, Testa had to relearn how to walk again because the septicemia destroyed muscle and tissues in her legs. She also had a visiting nurse and physical therapist. Because of the illness, Testa now faces physical impairments every day, including vision problems, hearing loss, permanent headaches, and loss of cognitive function. Testa still works with an immunologist and neurologist on a regular basis, along with a specialized team at Yale New Haven Children’s Hospital. Despite the daily challenges Testa faces, she continued her swimming career, earning conference and school honors her freshman, sophomore and junior years. Testa is a three-time team MVP.

Since her freshman year, Testa has been president of the university’s Student Athletic Advisory Committee, and she was recently chosen to serve as chair of the Little East Conference Student Athlete Advisory Committee, where she writes a blog on the LEC Web site. Testa is also in the Honors Program with a 3.5 GPA and is planning a career in teaching.

Meghan Bain (James Madison University)

Bain, a senior field hockey player at James Madison University, was struck by a car while running across the road to meet up with friends during the early morning hours of March 15, 2008. She was taken to the emergency room at Rockingham Memorial Hospital and was then airlifted to UVA Hospital in Charlottesville, Va., where she was in a coma for three days due to the traumatic brain injury classified as a diffuse axonal injury (DAI). Other injuries were caused to Bain’s body including a right lung collapse, multiple facial fractures, right retinal hemorrhage, lacerations to the scalp and shoulder, and a right tibial plateau fracture. A stunning 10 days after the accident, Meghan was sent to an in-patient rehabilitation program in Pennsylvania and was released 13 days later to continue with out-patient care. When doctors told Bain she would not be able to compete in athletics again, it gave her drive and motivation to prove them wrong. After many months of cognitive therapy sessions and physical therapy, Bain was cleared to run on July 9, 2008. By mid-July, Bain completed her cognitive therapy program and was enrolled again as a full time student at JMU, making her eligible for the fall 2008 field hockey season. Despite the doubts of many, Bain was back on the field hockey field for the Dukes’ 2008 season, required to wear protective headgear and a specialized mouth guard. Meghan started 20 out of 21 games her junior year and contributed to the best winning percentage in the program history. She is currently 10th in all time career goals at JMU (38) and is also ranked second at JMU for game-winning goals.

Brendan Finneran (Siena College)

During Finneran’s high school days, counselors doubted his ability to be able to enroll into Siena College and play Division I lacrosse for the Saints because of his 2.0 grade point average. To prove doubters wrong, Finneran worked hard on his academics, entered into a prep school, boosted his GPA to a 3.2, and developed into a skilled lacrosse player. He was soon accepted into Siena and received a lacrosse scholarship. Unfortunately, about a month after acceptance, Finneran was hit near his knee during lacrosse practice, causing severe pain which trainers advised to take four ibuprofens a day. As the pain grew worse over the next week, Finneran saw many doctors, had an x-ray and MRI, a biopsy, and met with an oncologist. The oncologist then announced that the six-foot-three, 210 pound athlete had bone cancer, would need surgery, and had to undergo chemotherapy. Finneran underwent chemo, dropping his weight to 125 pounds. When things couldn’t seem to get worse, one night Finneran experienced a cramp in his chest and was struggling to breathe. He had an infected lung, and by the middle of the night was dying in the hospital. After discussing burial plans and creating a will with his parents, Finneran miraculously lived. On June 15, 2006, doctors removed almost all of the bone between the top of his calf and the bottom of his thigh, and replaced it with titanium. Despite being told he will not walk for six months, Finneran was walking six weeks later, and on the day he realized he could stand, he immediately picked up his lacrosse stick. After being told he would not be able to run again for years, by the summer of 2007 Finneran was running and biking. Siena let him keep his scholarship whether he played lacrosse or not. During his freshman year, he kept stats for the Saints and assisted with radio broadcasts. A year later during the fall of 2008, Finneran was back on the lacrosse field, practicing with his teammates, and gearing up for the 2009 spring season. As of right now, Finneran is still
cancer free.

Dan Rhault (University of Rhode Island)

Rhault, a 2009 graduate of the University of Rhode Island, was reminded of his scary childhood after running into a former physician during URI’s three-game series at Xavier this past spring. When Rhault was four years old, he was diagnosed with acute leukemia. After undergoing four years of treatment, including spinal taps and chemotherapy, he went into remission and has been ever since. Rhault spent many years of his early childhood in the hospital, having numerous shots and injections, along with taking several medications daily. Because of the struggles faced during his childhood, Rhault uses his past as a way to overcome things in the future. As a freshman, he appeared in 12 games. He recorded just three hits in 24-at-bats, giving him a .125 average. Because of his “never back down” attitude, he improved his batting average to a .222 his sophomore year, a .316 his junior year, and a .402 his senior year. His senior year he was an All-New England selection and received the Atlantic 10 Player of the Year award after ranking among the league leaders in almost every statistical category. He led the Rams in RBIs (57), walks (27), home runs (11), grand slams (3), multiple hit games (23), multiple RBI games (14), slugging percentage (.628), and on-base percentage (.472). On the defensive end, Rhault has contributed to 28 double plays and one triple play. This year, Rhault was one of 38 NCAA Division I baseball players named to the watch list for the 2009 Brooks Wallace Award, given to the nation’s top shortstop. In the annual Major League Baseball First-Year Player Draft, he was selected by the Tampa Bay Rays in the 26th round, 799th overall. He signed, and is currently playing in their system for the Princeton Rays (rookie ball).

Kindra Lewis (Alvernia University)

Lewis was a four-year member of the women’s volleyball team at Alvernia University from 1999-2002. Throughout her playing career at Alvernia, Lewis held over 13 school records, while being named to the Pennsylvania Athletic Conference first team all four years of her career. Lewis is a career leader in games played, kills, hitting percentage, aces, solo blocks, and assisted blocks. While Lewis was earning these accolades, no one would have guessed she had cancer. During Lewis’ sophomore year of high school, the two sport athlete and mom of a nine month old baby, was diagnosed with cancer. Despite the chemotherapy, radiation, and operations that she had to undergo, Lewis still continued to play sports and graduate on time. At Alvernia she continued her battle with cancer, but that did not stop her from being successful in the class room and on the court. Lewis was two credits shy of graduating due to consuming cancer treatments. After leaving Alvernia in 2003, her 12-year battle with cancer soon began to take its toll, with doctors removing a tumor from her chest, the left side of her jaw, her collarbone and two ribs. Lewis was determined to graduate, so the university researched the graduation requirements, and realized Lewis could be honored with a liberal studies degree. In the fall of 2008, Lewis was notified of her graduation, but unfortunately she lost her battle to cancer before the December graduation ceremony. Lewis’ 12-year old daughter accepted the diploma in honor of her mother.