Olympic Torch passes through L.A.

  NICOLE MILLER/Daily Bruin Former UCLA cancer patient
Kim Shool carries the Olympic Torch down Wilshire
Boulevard Tuesday afternoon.

By Scott Schultz
Daily Bruin Senior Staff

Kim Shool walked down Wilshire Boulevard with a proud gait
Tuesday evening and the Olympic Torch in her hand.

As the 27-year-old kindergarten teacher paraded by the crowd of
supporters, she waved to friends, relatives and her students who
were screaming “Go Miss Shool!” at the top of their
lungs. She looked like a gymnast who had just completed a perfect
dismount to end a flawless routine.

Onlookers not already familiar with Shool’s story
wouldn’t be aware that just over a year ago, she was at the
UCLA Medical Center facing a leg amputation due to a form of bone
cancer known as osteosarcoma on her left femur.

Shool, with the aid of a prosthetic femur and patella, was one
of 11,500 participants to carry the Olympic Torch to its final
destination in Salt Lake City, Utah ““ site of the 2002 winter
Olympics.

“It’s an honor, it’s overwhelming,”
Shool said. “Your heart just starts racing. You don’t
feel anything going on. I just got a giant smile on my
face.”

Shool, who was treated by Dr. Jeffrey Eckhardt, carried the
legendary torch for the two-tenths of a mile stretch on Wilshire
Boulevard, between Plymouth and Arden Avenues, where she handed the
torch to UCLA alumnus and current Los Angeles Galaxy soccer player
Cobi Jones.

The torch reached Los Angeles Tuesday on its 13,500-mile relay
journey, which began at the original Olympic host city ““
Athens, Greece.

Shool, who was one of 225,000 applicants for the honor, was
nominated secretly by her mother, Barbara, who never expected her
to be chosen.

“I thought what do I have to lose,” Barbara said.
“She deserved some happiness after all she had been
through.”

After Shool’s mother sent in a 100-word essay explaining
how her daughter’s recovery was a source of inspiration for
others, Shool was notified of her acceptance over the Internet.

Shool’s father, Ken, told his daughter to savor the
moment. He was grateful for the support the doctors at UCLA gave
her. One doctor from the hospital screamed encouragement as she
passed.

“Because of what she went through to get here, UCLA is
really proud of her,” he said.

Shool continued teaching at the San Jose-Edison Academy in West
Covina through the recovery period, often with the aid of her
father. The students who showed up to yell their support to their
favorite teacher were excited for her, even if they were not
completely familiar with the Olympic Games.

Brittany Duffield, a second grader and former student of Shool,
said she cried when her mother told her because she was so proud of
her teacher.

“I think the Olympics are neat,” Duffield said.
“When she runs by, we’re going to scream and
yell.”

Shool and Jones are just two torch bearers with UCLA
connections.

Linda Houser, a first-year master’s student in the UCLA
School of Nursing, will carry the torch this afternoon down Main
Street in Santa Maria.

Shool, who has a barely noticeable limp, is thrilled to
participate in the ritual but is even more grateful for the
assistance she had in overcoming her disease.

“I wouldn’t be here if it wasn’t for the
doctors at UCLA,” she said.