Students in the medical physics graduate program will hold a Zumba class Saturday to support a student currently in treatment for cancer.
When medical physics graduate student Tony Mazza, 28, was diagnosed with stage four colon cancer last December, the other students in his program quickly banded together in support.
“It’s a really small program, so we’re like a family,” said Lydia Wilson, a medical physics graduate student who is organizing the event.
Wilson said because the program is small and tight-knit, averaging just six students per year, anything that happens to one student affects the whole group.
Mazza had surgery earlier this month and is currently undergoing chemotherapy in Pittsburgh, Pa. Though he has been unable to attend classes, he has been able to keep up with his teaching assistantship by grading papers, and he has attended lectures through Skype.
“We want people to know about what Tony is going through, and we want him to know we care about him and miss him,” Wilson said. “He is just a really great guy.”
Wilson said Mazza is pursuing his graduate degree because he spent his time after graduating from Wheeling Jesuit University in Pittsburgh working with non-profit groups in New Orleans helping with Hurricane Katrina recovery.
The Zumbathon will be at Definitions Fitness on Nicholson Drive on Saturday from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m. The class is open to beginners and those familiar with Zumba.
Tickets cost $15, and bracelets and T-shirts to support Mazza will also be sold.
 
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Contact Gordon Brillon at
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