Drexler 'lived life with no regrets'
Jessi Kohn
Issue date: 4/9/09 Section: News
Derrek Drexler, a junior at St. Ambrose University, passed away on Monday, March 23, which was also his 21st birthday. Drexler died from a rare disease called Hemophagocytic Lymphohistiocytosis, also known as HLH. This disease attacks the immune system and kills off the white blood cells, which is what the body uses to fight off infection. When Drexler got mono, it was too much for his body to fight off.
Drexler was highly involved with Campus Rec and also helped out as a tutor at SAU. He was majoring in accounting and finance and had a positive dedication about becoming better at what he loved to do.
Megan Helle, a senior at SAU, was close friends with Drexler and attended high school with him.
"It doesn't seem real. I feel like I'm going to walk around campus and see his smiling face," Helle said. "I'm still in shock and disbelief."
Drexler and Helle hung out with the same group of friends. They liked to play bags and shoot pool together and they all got along great. Drexler also loved to play poker and was very good at it. He played tennis and golf in high school and recently was working at Crow Valley golf course in Bettendorf.
Drexler was a very intelligent person, especially when it came to numbers. Helle would ask Drexler for help on accounting homework and he never second guessed helping a friend out. When asked to describe Drexler, Helle said in high school he was a very shy kid, but when he entered into college he was completely different.
"He was almost like a ladies' man on campus and that is completely opposite from how he was in high school," Helle said. "He's just an all-around awesome guy."
Helle recalls a story from her freshmen year of college. Drexler was a year younger, still a senior in high school, and wanted to ask Helle to his senior homecoming. So the old, shy Drexler asked one of his friends to ask Helle to homecoming for him because he was too shy to ask, even though they hung out all the time. Drexler didn't seem to have trouble socially in college.
Drexler was highly involved with Campus Rec and also helped out as a tutor at SAU. He was majoring in accounting and finance and had a positive dedication about becoming better at what he loved to do.
Megan Helle, a senior at SAU, was close friends with Drexler and attended high school with him.
"It doesn't seem real. I feel like I'm going to walk around campus and see his smiling face," Helle said. "I'm still in shock and disbelief."
Drexler and Helle hung out with the same group of friends. They liked to play bags and shoot pool together and they all got along great. Drexler also loved to play poker and was very good at it. He played tennis and golf in high school and recently was working at Crow Valley golf course in Bettendorf.
Drexler was a very intelligent person, especially when it came to numbers. Helle would ask Drexler for help on accounting homework and he never second guessed helping a friend out. When asked to describe Drexler, Helle said in high school he was a very shy kid, but when he entered into college he was completely different.
"He was almost like a ladies' man on campus and that is completely opposite from how he was in high school," Helle said. "He's just an all-around awesome guy."
Helle recalls a story from her freshmen year of college. Drexler was a year younger, still a senior in high school, and wanted to ask Helle to his senior homecoming. So the old, shy Drexler asked one of his friends to ask Helle to homecoming for him because he was too shy to ask, even though they hung out all the time. Drexler didn't seem to have trouble socially in college.
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