Blonquist, a North Summit basketball standout, hadn’t planned to visit his grandfather until Saturday, but he was so frustrated with his performance in that Friday’s game that he drove over that night.
Feeling sick that day wasn’t a satisfying excuse for him. Blonquist had experienced bouts of strep throat-like symptoms over the past two months, but his blood tests had come back negative for a slew of similar illnesses.
Now driving back home, Blonquist barely could turn his head, and his neck had swollen up. But he figured he just had slept on it wrong. Besides, his grandfather, sitting next to him, was battling stage 4 colon cancer.