Just Do It Together

Lake Oswego’s Molly Martin, 13, helps design a new Nike shoe to fit her life experiences battling cancer

By Rebecca Randall

The Lake Oswego Review, Oct 22, 2009, Updated Oct 30, 2009 (1 Reader comment)

vern Uyetake / Lake Oswego Review

Molly Martin displays a finished production of her shoe presented to her at the unveiling ceremony. This pair is signed by Portland Trail Blazer Brandon Roy.

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The colors are strong, but not out of control. The lines are clean and the details are small. Upon closer examination, there are clues. Personal clues that tip off an observant shoe owner that these are no ordinary shoes.

Instead of the traditional Nike slogan, one important word extends the philosophy a little further – “Just Do It” the left shoe shouts; “Together,” the right shoe adds.

The shoe’s designer adapted the slogan to fit her life experiences. Molly Martin, a 13-year-old Lake Oswegan, knows that you need to have people supporting you when you face life’s challenges. Martin was diagnosed with a brain tumor when she was 2. She had surgery to remove the tumor, but she was too young to do chemotherapy.

Almost two years ago now, the tumor came back, and this time she went through 15 months of chemo. “When I was sick (my friends) were really supportive,” said Molly. “I missed school for a really long time.”

But when she came back to school at St. Clare School, a Catholic parish school in Southwest Portland, after a long absence, her five best friends decorated the classroom with Jonas Brothers posters to celebrate her return.

The shoes give a quiet mention to her friends with a carefully concealed code name that they use to describe themselves. On the inside of the shoe, Molly introduces her family’s contribution to her life with the inscription M6, representing the six members of the Martin family: her parents, Nanette and Jeff, and her siblings Dominic, Joe and Madeline.

Molly says the shoe’s design represents her personality.

“I didn’t want the personal stuff to stand out so much,” she said. “You have to get to know me and then I’m kind of crazy. You have to look at the shoe to see my personality.”

Other subtle details include: a reflective silhouette of Molly running on the back of the heel, a music note on the left shoe and a basketball on the right shoe.

Teen shoe designer

The question that begs to be asked is: How does a 13-year-old get to design a Nike shoe?

Well, for the last six years, Nike has partnered with Doernbecher Children’s Hospital to put out a line of shoes it calls Doernbecher Freestyle.

Molly was the perfect candidate. Typically, the hospital nominates patients with different stories, probably kids who have been patients at Doernbecher long enough for the staff to get to know them. And in Molly’s case, she was chosen for her love of sports. Molly plays volleyball, track, soccer and basketball.

Two years ago when her tumor came back, she began chemotherapy treatments every Wednesday for 15 months. “She did a pretty good job of trying not to miss school,” said her mom Nanette. “She was usually sick one Thursday, maybe two Thursdays a month.”

Molly’s treatment included three different kinds of chemo.

“Kids are amazing. Their strength is just unbelievable,” said Nanette.

During her treatment, Molly was much more limited in how much she could participate in sports. In fact in March of this year, she told her doctors that she didn’t want to do chemo anymore because she didn’t have enough energy for sports.

“They said the tumor had stopped growing but they are watching it with MRIs,” said Molly.

“I can do all the sports I couldn’t do with chemo,” she added. “I have more energy. My hair is growing back.”

She had heard of the Doernbecher Freestyle because one of last year’s kids showed her a booklet describing the story behind all of the designs, but when she heard in the spring that she was nominated for the program it came as a surprise.

The design process

Before Molly could meet with a designer, she filled out a survey that matched her personality and interests with a particular Nike shoe. She got the Nike Shox (a shoe with specialized cushioning in the heel ) and was given a blank drawing of the shoe on which to draw her ideas.

“At first I didn’t know all I could do on it,” she said.

Her original drawing has bright colors outlining different areas of the shoe. “It was just the main colors I wanted it to be and that was it,” she said.

She also jotted down ideas of what she wanted to include – such as the code name for her group of friends.

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