SIMI VALLEY : Benefit Game Will Aid Man With Cancer

A Los Angeles-based dwarf basketball team will compete in a benefit game Saturday to aid Troy Hurt, a Simi Valley man who is waging a costly battle against a life-threatening form of cancer.

The L.A. Breakers will play against the Ramblin’ Wrecs, a team assembled by the Rancho Simi Recreation and Park District. The Wrecs will include Lynn Shackelford, a former UCLA basketball star who operates a district-owned golf course.

The benefit was put together by Marilyn Artran, 46, of Simi Valley, a member of Hurt’s church. Artran is president of the Billy Barty Foundation, which provides scholarships and other aid to little people.

Artran learned that Hurt needs a $250,000 bone-marrow transplant operation, a procedure his family cannot afford and his insurance will not pay for.

“The Lord tapped me on the shoulder and said, ‘There’s a way for you to help raise money,’ ” Artran said. “That was to arrange a game.”

Hurt, 21, underwent more than a year of chemotherapy and radiation treatment after he was diagnosed three years ago with Wilms tumor.

He was attending Moorpark College and working at a gas station when five new tumors were found last year. He underwent more chemotherapy, but the treatment will not keep the cancer at bay indefinitely, Hurt said.

A bone-marrow transplant “is the only way he’ll make it,” said J. Gary Davidson, Hurt’s cancer physician. Because the operation is considered experimental for this form of cancer, his insurance company will not pay for it, Hurt said.

Hurt’s friends and family have organized the basketball game, a choral concert and other events to help pay for the operation, which is scheduled to be performed this summer at the City of Hope in Duarte.

Treva Hurt, Troy’s mother, said she is overwhelmed by the community’s support.

“You’ve gone all your life doing whatever you can for other people,” she said. “Then you find yourself on the receiving end. That’s harder than giving, believe me. It’s natural to think you’re self-sufficient. But when something like this happens, you realize it’s in the Lord’s hands.”

Artran said the basketball contest will also provide a rare opportunity to see dwarf athletes’ skills. “It’s an educational thing,” she said. “It lets the average-size world know that there is nothing that little people can’t do.”

Some rule changes will be made, however, to compensate for the size differences between the teams.

The benefit basketball game begins at 7:30 p.m. Saturday at Royal High School, 1402 Royal Ave., Simi Valley. Tickets are $5 each.

Those wishing to donate to Hurt’s medical fund can call 581-3129.