15-year-old Wachusett Storm swimmer Michelle Farnsworth has passed away in Massachusets after a nine-month battle with cancer.
Farnsworth swam for the Wachusett Storm Swim Club of Massachusetts up until last March, when she was diagnosed with rhabdomyosarcoma, a type of cancer also known as RMS.
Her swimming teammates and local community rallied behind her and her family, putting on multiple benefit events to raise money for Farnsworth’s medical costs.
Farnsworth was a fast-rising young swimmer, with best times of 25.59 in the 50 free and 56.46 in the 100 free as a 13-year-old. More importantly, she was described by friends as “an amazing person” with a “contagious positivity.” You can read a profile of her in the local school newspaper here.
The high school sophomore passed on January 13th. Her surviving family includes her brother Devin, a freshman swimmer at UMass Dartmouth and her sister Alyssa, a senior swimmer at Sacred Heart, as well as her parents John and Brenda.
The family set up a webpage taking donations to cover the cost of her medical bills and memorial service, and any further donations will go into a scholarship fund set up in Michelle’s name. You can find that page and donate here.
In lieu of flowers, donations may also be made in Michelle’s honor to Sherry’s House, an organization supporting families facing childhood cancer. You can find the Sherry’s House website here.
Michelle Farnsworth (right) with her teammate and close friend Mary Messina.
Very sad to hear of this. May she rest in peace and may her family find comfort with one another and with their memories.
Last weekend our daughter Ellen Lee was swimming in the Dolphin open swimming
Gala in Cork Ireland.Ellen is a member of Sundays Well swimming club in Cork.
She was delighted with being presented with the Michelle Farnsworth memorial
award for best female Junior swimmer in the gala.
It was only when we arrived home that we realised the true significance of this
Award. Although we never had the previlage of meeting Michelle we were so
Delighted to be able to read about her many achievements and great attitude
to life.
She will be an inspiration to our daughter in her swimming career and we would
Like to extend our best wishes to Michelle’s family.
Tommy & Gillian Lee