Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: MONDAY, November 22, 1993 TAG: 9311220087
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: SCOTTSDALE, ARIZ. LENGTH: Medium
Heather Farr, a professional golfer who inspired fans with her courageous battle to return to the game after being stricken with cancer at age 24, died Saturday. She was 28.
On Nov. 11, Farr underwent surgery to relieve a brain hemorrhage at Scottsdale Memorial Hospital-North. Six days later, her condition was downgraded from fair to critical.
Farr died in the hospital's intensive care unit about midnight, hospital spokeswoman Linda Hurbis said.
Farr, a Phoenix native, was a two-time All-America golfer at Arizona State and became the youngest player to qualify for the LPGA Tour at age 20 in 1986.
After winning $170,038 in 3 1/2 years, Farr was diagnosed with breast cancer on July 3, 1989.
"You go through life, especially as an athlete, thinking you're doing all the right things with your body," Farr said in a 1989 interview. "You never expect this to happen. You may get into a car wreck or something, but you don't expect your body to go haywire. This just shows it can happen to anybody."
After cancer was diagnosed, Farr underwent a mastectomy, followed by 36 radiation treatments in a four-month period.
Farr resumed playing on a limited basis in the fall of 1990, but began having back pain. Doctors found two tumors, one in her spine, the other at the back of her skull.
Friends and doctors marveled at her fighting spirit.
"She's a champion," Dr. Allan Hamilton of the University of Arizona said while Farr prepared for the X-ray attack on the spinal tumor. "She's approached this almost like an athlete. She knows it's another obstacle she has to clear and she's getting pumped up for it."
On March 13, 1991, Farr underwent a 13-hour operation at the University of Colorado in Denver to rebuild her vertebra and stabilize her back with a 7-inch metal rod. Then came more surgery - an operation to remove the cranial tumor and a series of procedures that involved removing some bone marrow from her spine, massive chemotherapy to kill that tumor and replacement of the marrow.
She had to fight financial as well as medical battles during this period. Her insurance company balked at paying for the experimental $200,000 marrow operation, then relented after Farr and friends organized fund-raising golf events.
In August 1991, after more radiation treatment, Farr began working on her putting stroke and trying to regain the 25 pounds she lost from her 5-foot-1 frame.
In February 1992, she was telling reporters she believed she was cured of cancer and hoped to be back on the LPGA Tour in 1993.
She also married Goren Lingmerth, a former Northern Arizona football kicker who works for a golf-club manufacturer in Phoenix.
Her comeback plans were sidetracked by more health problems.
In May 1992, doctors found cancerous bone lesions on her pelvic bone and in the back of her skull.
On Aug. 16, 1993, she underwent emergency surgery to remove a breast implant that had hardened, was threatening surrounding tissue and causing hemorrhaging.
In September, she underwent an X-ray procedure to destroy another cancerous tumor, this one on her spine and capable of paralyzing her.
In October 1993, Farr had eight operations to stop internal bleeding and had her chest wall partially reconstructed at Hoag Hospital in Newport Beach, Calif.
On the golf tour, Farr's best finish was third place in the 1988 Mazda Classic. In 1988, her best year, with $75,821 in winnings, she finished in the top 10 in six tournaments.
by CNB