Cancer is a scary diagnosis, and the fear goes up exponentially when it's a child being diagnosed. In Part 2 of her series on raising funds for cancer research, our own Debbie Lazaga talks to a very special family to find out what it was like.
Katie Schurk's son Brody was diagnosed with stage four Wilms Tumor at the age of 4. It's a cancer that affects the kidney, and in Brody's case, his kidney turned into the tumor meaning a serious bit of surgery to have it removed. He was diagnosed with stage four because they also found some spots on his lung. After a series of biopsies, it was determined the spots were not cancer.
As you can imagine, the diagnosis was a shock to the whole family. When someone gets cancer, it's not just you, it's the whole family.
The fear is palpable. But that's what the MACC Fund and Children's Hospital is there for and its one of the things they do best. The way they work with families while in for treatment that just gives them a sense of normalcy. Which can make all the difference in the world and can determine how well a patient responds to treatment.
The MACC Fund can't do what it does without our help. So, JK Lee Tae Kwon Do Black Belt Academy has stepped up to do an annual event called Board Break-a-Thon. And after 25 years, they're posed to reach the $1 Million mark of funds raised since the event began.
At this event students of the academy collect pledges and for a certain amount of money raised, they can break wooden board. Using anything from punches to kicks and chops, the sound of cracking boards and “kihaps” (the guttural yell the martial artists use when breaking) fill the common area of Southridge Mall right outside Macy's. There will be martial arts demonstrations every hour too.
Every penny raised at the event will go to the MACC Fund and children's cancer care.
Interested in trying your hand at breaking a wooden board? You can attend the event happening this Saturday, February 16 from 10 am to 4 pm. Make a small donation, and the martial artists there will show you how to safely break a wooden board. You don't have to break a board either, you can just come and find out more about what Tae Kwon Do is and make a donation to help the MACC Fund.
620 WTMJ's Traffic Reporter, Debbie Lazaga, a first degree black belt, will be doing something special to help.
If she raises $1000 for the event, she will not break a wooden board, but a CONCRETE BRICK!
If you'd like to help, please head to this online donation site and give what you can.
THANK YOU!
