By Jake Shaw/TexasFootball.com

Doctors became aware his 12-year old, Mark, had developed a brain tumor at stage early enough to operate and remove it.

That's one prayer answered.

"They said the chances of beating the cancer are fantastic," Mullinix said.

But by no means is the Mullinix family returning to a normal life. When this interview ended with the head coach last week, Mark was finishing radiation.

The family returned for four weeks in Normangee from Houston, where they've spent their entire summer attending to their son's medical needs. When that time is up, it's back to Houston for 16 weeks of chemotherapy.

The outcome of that treatment is what Mullinix fears most.

"He's gone from being extremely athletic to struggling to walk in two months," Mullinix said of the effects of Mark's operation. "He has double vision, which adds to the problem of trying to walk and keep his balance."

Mark clearly had the same athletic gene so present in his older brothers, twins Jordan and Justin. The two enter their junior seasons at Normangee having lit up Class 1A as sophomores.

Jordan, at running back, totaled 1,399 yards and 22 TDs rushing, while Justin, the quarterback, passed for 1,397 yards and 16 TDs while adding 970 yards and 12 TDs on the ground. That's over 3,000 yards and 50 TDs between the brothers.

Having them back, along with 14 other starters, gave this magazine reason enough to rank Normangee (7-3 in 2006) No. 7 overall in the preseason.

Coach Mullinix won't miss a second of the season. But he'll be forced to split his time between Normangee and Houston, where he'll make the 125-mile trip after game days before returning on Tuesdays.

"It's probably going to affect my concentration, because he'll be in Houston and I'll be in Normangee trying to win football games," Mullinix said.

"Where I've been lucky is I have an outstanding coaching staff, and they've picked up the slack without me being there. I don't have to worry about team during the summer, because I know they're taking care of it."

Summer workouts haven't stalled for the twins. Both work out with the team during the week and have traveled to various underclassmen combines around the state.

At their most recent stop, Jordan, who's listed as a half-inch taller than Justin, also edged his brother in the 40, running a 4.47 compared to Justin's 4.52.

"They kind of have different styles," Mullinix said of his sons. "Jordan can cut, but he's more speed and power, and Justin is more elusive. He can just start and stop -- that's why he does so well in the shuttles.

"Jordan kinda has a linebacker's mentality when he runs. We don't want Justin to get hit, so it kinda works out well."

With their parents in Houston with their brother in the hospital, Jordan and Justin have found a home with friends back in Normangee. A weekend visit to him has followed every week's workout.

"They lift and run and work out everyday," their father said. "They're doing all that without me being there.

"On weekends, they come down to see him, and that really picks (Mark) up. They've been real supportive, and he really looks up to them."

Mark won't get to see much of his brothers sparkle under the Friday night lights. For that matter, he won't get a chance to suit up with his peers for the seventh grade football team at Normangee.

His father, however, will be there by his side soon enough to give full reports.

"I don’t know how I’m going to do it," Mullinix said of balancing the upcoming season and his son's needs, "but I'm going to play it by ear and just do it.

"But my son is my No. 1 priority. And the people of Normangee understand that."

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Student car wash to aid boy's family

Eagle Staff Report

A group of Texas A&M and Blinn students will have a car wash Saturday to benefit cancer patient Mark Mullinnix, the 12-year-old son of Normangee football coach Brian Mullinnix.

The car wash will be at the U-Haul store at the corner of Texas Avenue and University Drive from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m.

Donations will be accepted to help the Mullinnix family with medical and living expenses while Mark is in Houston undergoing treatments for brain cancer.

By LARRY BOWEN
Eagle Staff Writer

Mark Mullinnix should be spending this summer hustling from Normangee's Little League baseball fields to the school weight room, getting ready to play seventh-grade football.

Instead, the 12-year-old son of Normangee High School head football coach Brian Mullinnix goes from one Houston hospital room to another, getting treatments for brain cancer.

Mark Mullinnix was nearing the end of his sixth-grade year last month when he began to experience severe headaches and vomiting. A CT scan May 6 revealed that Mark had medulla blastoma, a form of brain cancer.

Mark was taken to Texas Children's Hospital in Houston, where he underwent six hours of brain surgery three days later.

Mark has spent the past four weeks at Texas Children's Hospital. Last week, he moved to a condominium near the Medical Center with his father and mother, Dorothy, an English teacher at Normangee. The condo will be the family's base of operations while Mark goes through six weeks of radiation that starts Thursday and will be followed by 16 weeks of chemotherapy.

People from Normangee and the surrounding communities have rallied around Mark, his parents and twin brothers Jordan and Justin, who are standout athletes at Normangee High School.

"The support has really been outstanding, especially from the community of Normangee and area churches," Brian Mullinnix said. "For people to leave Normangee and drive to downtown Houston, into the Medical Center people have just been great.

"We had some people at Normangee schools who donated [off] days to us, and that's going to help. Churches from the Normangee area have sent us money. Our friends have sent money and gifts. People have been amazing."

Friends have set up a fund at Normangee State Bank to help the Mullinnix family pay medical bills and living expenses. The account is monitored by assistant cashier Ida Fletcher, whose son Tyler is one of Mark's best friends.

"People are coming in, wanting to help and trying to find out what they can do," said Fletcher, who said donations have ranged from $5 to $2,000. "It's wonderful. You don't realize how many friends you have until something like this happens. This is a loving, caring community, and it hit so close to home."

Doctors have told the Mullinnix family that the success rate for treatment of medulla blastoma is about 80 percent. Dorothy and Brian hope they can begin easing Mark back into school after Christmas.

For now, Mark is undergoing physical therapy to combat the effects of having surgery near his brain stem. He has trouble with balance and needs help walking, but his father said Mark did well when they took him to a swimming pool Monday.

"He's being extremely patient, being as athletic as he was," Mullinnix said. "He's having to kind of start over. They're talking about doing physical therapy three days a week, but we're talking about maybe upping that to five days a week."

Mark's parents got a scare when he didn't wake up as expected after his surgery. A CT scan indicated that the procedure went well, and so did Mark's first words when he finally woke up the next day.

"The first thing he asked us is, 'Where is the nearest Subway?'" Brian Mullinnix said.

Friends of the Mullinnix family have set up an Internet site to provide updates on Mark's condition and allow people to write messages to him. A visit to http://mark Mullinnix.tripod.com reveals reports of Mark's medical progress, along with notes about him getting a call and autograph from NBA star Shaquille O'Neal and a cherished Texas A&M 12th Man jersey with his name on it.

"You have to be optimistic and have faith," Brian Mullinnix said. "We're going to have faith in Mark's body and in Mark, because he's such a competitor. Some friends of ours sent a T-shirt to him that said he was a champion, and that one of the definitions of champion is a warrior. We've been talking to him about being a warrior. We know he's going to come through it."

• Larry Bowen's e-mail address is larry.bowen@theeagle.com.