At Patchogue-Medford prom, teens keep late friend's spirit alive

Christian Dolan wore a yellow bow tie and a yellow flower on his lapel, in addition to a matching handkerchief emblazoned with the number 38. Maria Cliffe wore a pale yellow and white flowery dress.

The Patchogue-Medford High School seniors wanted to honor their friend Sean Dixon on Monday night at a senior prom they so hoped he could have been at. So while they celebrated the night at Villa Lombardi’s in Holbrook, they wore yellow to remind their classmates that Sean was still with them in spirit.

Dixon, a lacrosse player who wore number 38, died on Oct. 18, 2017 at age 16, two years after being diagnosed with osteosarcoma, a rare form of bone cancer.

“This was his year where he would have been with us,” Dolan, 18, said of the senior prom. “Each event we have, he is missed.”

Last year, the students at Patchogue-Medford decorated the junior prom in yellow in honor of Dixon.

“We just put yellow anywhere we could,” remembered Cliffe, 18.

Dolan and Cliffe continued that legacy Monday, but even those not in yellow had Sean on their minds.

“He had such a big impact,” said Melissa Newman, 18, another one of Dixon’s friends. “It’s hard, but we also want to have fun for him.”

Dixon’s friends described him as a bright spot in the community, and someone who was friends with nearly everyone he met.

“We were the ‘Lacrosse Bros’ in middle school,” said Alexander Hamarich, 17. As children, Alexander said he used to ride bikes with Sean to Peppermint Park on Jamaica Avenue in Medford after getting slices of pizza.

Last year, the park was renamed Sean Dixon Memorial Park. Two months before he died, Sean -- who lost his right leg at the hip to the disease -- was sworn in to the Suffolk County Police Department as a “Detective For a Day,” noting his passion for law enforcement.

For Patchogue-Medford High School’s graduation ceremony Wednesday, students and faculty wore yellow ribbons in honor of Sean.  

“It was one thing our community kind of acknowledged, that Sean was a great person,” said Dolan.

What would Sean be doing if he were at prom to celebrate with them?

“He would have been here with his crutches in the air,” Cliffe said. “I never want him to be forgotten.”