Cancer Sidelines Grand Prairie Principal Who ‘has Impacted Us All'

GRAND PRAIRIE -- Lorimer Arendse looked out over a fourth-floor balcony on Sunday as he got a special preview of a new classroom tower at Grand Prairie High School.To his left, AT&T Stadium in Arlington appeared as close as next door. To his north sat Lone Star Park. And below him sat the district's fabled Gopher-Warrior Bowl, from which his upper-level perch provided the best seat in the house."I'm simply amazed," Arendse said in his gentle South African accent. "What a blessing this is for our students and staff."But when doors opened for the first day of classes Monday at the 3,000-student campus, the principal wasn't there to see the reaction on students' faces -- especially the seniors who walked through their own private entrance to the new $16 million, 80,000 square-foot tower.In fact, it might be a while before Arendse can come back.'Things didn't add up'Arendse's life changed over the summer when he fell and injured his ribs while working on his family's farm in Cleburne. He saw a chiropractor first. Then he visited his brother, an ER doctor at Texas Harris Methodist Hospital in Fort Worth, suffering from shortness of breath."I was concerned about his story because things didn't add up," said Alwin Arendse, Lorimer's older brother. "I knew about the rib pain and the chiropractor, and when I saw the scan, I knew right away."  Continue reading...