Editorial: Support fight against childhood cancer during awareness month
Students wearing gold-colored shirts in recognition of Childhood Cancer Awareness Month arrive at Neil Armstrong Middle School in Bethel Park.
David Fabus and his son Nick during Joey Fabus Gold Day at Neil Armstrong Middle School
David Fabus greets Justin Muench, a friend of his late son Joey, at Neil Armstrong Middle School.
Many Neil Armstrong Middle School students wore “Let’s Tackle Childhood Cancer Together” shirts on Friday.
David Fabus greets Bethany Bombich, Joey’s teacher at Washington Elementary School.
Some Neil Armstrong Middle School students wore “Joey Strong” shirts on Friday in honor of their would-be classmate Joey Fabus.
The staff at Washington Elementary School wears gold.
Some Neil Armstrong Middle School students wore “Joey Strong” shirts on Friday in honor of their would-be classmate Joey Fabus.
“My shirt is saving kids. What can yours do?”
David Fabus with Bethel Park parents Shannon Bonidie, center, and Jolene Ward
Students at Washington Elementary School
As he would be the first to admit, David Fabus had a tough time greeting Bethel Park students as they disembarked from buses at their schools.
A great many of the youngsters were wearing gold-colored shirts, with a great many of those calling attention to September as Childhood Cancer Awareness Month.
Before 8 a.m. Friday, Fabus arrived at Neil Armstrong Middle School. In a better world, his son Joey would have started attending classes there on Sept. 6, instead of succumbing last year at age 8 to a rare pediatric cancer called diffuse intrinsic pontine glioma.
Waving, saying hello and giving the occasional high-five to Joey’s friends and would-be classmates, Fabus continued to express appreciation for the support that Bethel Park and surrounding communities have shown him, wife Cindy and their other children.
Communities across the United States similarly come together on behalf of an alarming number of families in similar situations. According to the American Childhood Cancer Organization, more than 15,000 children are diagnosed with cancer every year, and approximately one-fourth of them will not survive the disease, which is the leading cause of death for those who are 15 and younger.
The Fabuses, who also lost an infant daughter, are doing their part to help the cause by raising awareness and also by raising money toward finding cures. Proceeds from the second annual Joey Fabus Memorial Run on Sept. 18 at Bethel Park High School should add considerably to the effort.
The financing is needed. Most childhood cancers are considered to be rare, affecting a relatively minuscule percentage of the American population, and so revenue sources such as government funding are in short supply.
As for the pharmaceutical industry, St. Baldrick’s Foundation, a California-based nonprofit that raises money to help find cures for children with cancer, reports:
“About 60 percent of all funding for drug development in adult cancers comes from pharmaceutical companies. For kids? Almost none, because childhood cancer drugs are not profitable.”
And so your support is essential toward a future in which people like David Fabus won’t have to greet buses full of would-be classmates of their children.