{"id":65025,"date":"2015-06-15T20:05:24","date_gmt":"2015-06-16T01:05:24","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.uscho.com\/?p=65025"},"modified":"2015-06-15T20:09:09","modified_gmt":"2015-06-16T01:09:09","slug":"former-michigan-state-player-swistak-loses-battle-with-cancer","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.uscho.com\/2015\/06\/15\/former-michigan-state-player-swistak-loses-battle-with-cancer\/","title":{"rendered":"Former Michigan State player Swistak loses battle with cancer"},"content":{"rendered":"<figure id=\"attachment_65027\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-65027\" style=\"width: 200px\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.uscho.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/06\/Swistak_Stephen_headshot.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-65027 \" alt=\"\" src=\"http:\/\/www.uscho.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/06\/Swistak_Stephen_headshot.jpg\" width=\"200\" height=\"300\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.uscho.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/06\/Swistak_Stephen_headshot.jpg 200w, https:\/\/www.uscho.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/06\/Swistak_Stephen_headshot-100x150.jpg 100w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 200px) 100vw, 200px\" \/><\/a><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-65027\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Dr. Stephen Swistak (photo: DMC Medical Group)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Steve Swistak, who played 37 games for Michigan State from 2000 to 2004, passed away on June 11 after a 2 1\/2-year battle with esophageal cancer.<\/p>\n<p>Swistak was just 33.<\/p>\n<p>According to a Facebook post from his father, Len, Swistak was surrounded by his extended family &#8220;just as he had lived &#8211; with dignity, love, determination, fearlessness and no regrets.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>After graduating from MSU, Swistak entered medical school in East Lansing and was working as a colorectal surgeon at the Detroit Medical Center at the time of his death.<\/p>\n<p>Swistak leaves behind his wife, Megan, and newborn daughter, Sophia, along with parents, Len and Pat.<\/p>\n<p>His cousin, Mike, also played at Michigan State, while another cousin, J.J., played for Michigan.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Like all athletes, Steve would have said he did not lose this battle, but simply, the clock ran out,&#8221; read the Facebook post. &#8220;He is now only in our hearts and our fond memories.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>With the Spartans, Swistak tallied two goals and two assists &#8211; all during his senior season of 2003-04.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Steve Swistak, who played 37 games for Michigan State from 2000 to 2004, passed away on June 11 after a 2 1\/2-year battle with esophageal cancer. Swistak was just 33. According to a Facebook post from his father, Len, Swistak was surrounded by his extended family &#8220;just as he had lived &#8211; with dignity, love, [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":21,"featured_media":140328,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"coauthors":[],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v23.9 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Former Michigan State player Swistak loses battle with cancer - College Hockey | USCHO.com<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Steve Swistak, who played 37 games for Michigan State from 2000 to 2004, passed away on June 11 after a 2 1\/2-year battle with esophageal cancer. 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